Hawkmoth's Last Hope
by MiraculousNightingale
Summary: After Catalyst's fail, Gabriel has no choice but to give up Nooroo and to contemplate for another hopeless plan. Natalie can't bear to see him so depressed all the time and takes the peacock miraculous, creating a villain so powerful Ladybug and Cat Noir are put to shame. Just in time, a New York high school has come to Paris on a field trip. Will Paris need help to defeat Mayura?
1. Chapter 1

"Emilie," Gabriel sighs as he stares at his wife encased in her beautiful coffin. She looks so peaceful, so happy, she could just be sleeping, and having the most perfect dream. A dream that will last for eternity.

"Ladybug and Cat Noir were so close to discovering my true identity. They were so close to taking my miraculous away from me; from taking you away from me forever, taking away my last hope, when I was so close to getting you back. I feel like I can't do anything else." He'd said those words before. When Audrey Bourgeois/Style Queen, his masterpiece, had failed him. Was he just going to keep failing over and over again? The bigger and more perfect his plan seems to be, the closer to defeat he gets.

"I can't keep doing this. Adrien becomes more distant every day. And that is my fault. I just wish you were still with us. I just wish Hawkmoth and Mayura could work together with Ladybug and Cat Noir to make Paris better, so I don't have to be evil. If Adrien finds out that I'm Hawkmoth… he'll never forgive me. No one will forgive me after what I've done to people. Even that spiteful girl Chloe Bourgeois will be more loved than me. I can't keep doing this. May you rest in peace, my love."

Gabriel closed his eyes, and tears leaked out of the cracks. He hasn't felt this sorrow and shame in so long.

"Master?" Nooroo flew out of Gabriel's jacket and looked at him with his large, curious eyes.

"What is it, Nooroo?"

"Master… What if you just explained to Ladybug and Cat Noir what you wanted? Maybe they'll feel sympathy and-"

"No Nooroo. You don't understand. I'm giving you up once and for all." Nooroo sighed as Gabriel took off his pin and Nooroo flew inside. Taking one last glance at Emilie, he turned on his heel and left the room.

Stepping on the platform that elevated him back up to the Agreste Mansion, Natalie had just finished cleaning up his papers. "Sir," she asked in her usual monotonous voice, "You might still have a chance."

"No Natalie," Gabriel sighed. A sudden rush of anger overcame him. He doesn't have a chance of bringing back his beloved anymore because of Natalie. Because of her stupid plan with flaws punched in every corner.

"I DON'T HAVE A CHANCE ANYMORE BECAUSE YOU FAILED! BECAUSE… I failed." Gabriel collapsed onto one of his chairs, his eyes closed, a hand to his forehead. He waited for the comforting arms of Natalie to hug him and make him feel better, to admit that she was wrong, to lie to him and say that everything was going to be alright.

After a few moments, he opened his eyes again, but Natalie was nowhere to be seen. He sighed and shut his door, locking it. What was he going to do?

 **Adrien**

I didn't know what to think anymore.

Marinette's a great friend, and she's really awesome in every way, I especially like how cute she is when she stammers. But did I actually like her? Like, _like_ her? After she kissed me, I'm not really sure what to feel anymore.

"Aw, c'mon Adrien," Plagg flew around the room, trying to entertain himself with something besides eating camembert cheese. "Marinette's a great person. Besides, she obviously likes you. You realize that she stammers whenever she gets near you?"

Did she like me? "I don't know, Plagg. She's only a friend. And even if she does like me, well… I'll have to wait and see."

"Ugh, all this love business is making me hungry. I need camembert!" Plagg wailed, flopping down on the bed. I sigh and toss Plagg some camembert, and he eats it in one gulp. "Mm, I knew you were the best Cat Noir!" he yells. I roll my eyes. "Wow, I'm flattered," I say sarcastically.

So now I have three girls to choose from; Kagami, Ladybug, and Marinette. Ladybug already confessed that she's in love with someone else, though I really don't see how she can resist me, not to brag. I mean, I'm Adrien Agreste, the fashion model. And I'm Cat Noir, the hero of destruction. Honestly, I think we're meant to be. After I gave up on her, Kagami's mainly been my love interest. She's really pretty, and she's smart too. Although there's the fact that she tried to kill me when she was Riposte. I mean sheesh, she does have quite a temper.

I look down when my phone buzzes, and although I'm not looking in the mirror, but I know my face lightens up.

"Lemme guess, Nino's invited you to the Eiffel tower to get some ice cream at Andre's and hang out at the park?" Plagg asks, lazily floating in midair and cuddling an imaginary lump of camembert.

"Wow Plagg, I think you're the kwami of destruction and mind reading," I chuckle as I text Nino back. _Sure, I'll ask my dad. Is it just us, or others too?_

Almost immediately after I send the text, my phone rings again.

 _No, Alya's coming too. And Alya's bringing Marinette. It's going to be like the 'best friend' dates!_

I sigh. Date? Marinette? Well that will definitely be good news for her. I guess I'm chill with it. Maybe Marinette and I will make a good couple too. Nino's found his girlfriend, maybe I just found mine. But what about Kagami? What if she _did_ like me after all? Am I making a mistake?

 _Lol yeah. See you there!_

"Ooh, so you took my advice and now you're a couple with Marinette? My Adrien has grown up!" Plagg shouted, munching on another piece of camembert he found in my bag.

"C'mon Plagg, we gotta go." I grabbed my bag from him and he hid inside my jacket, just as Natalie opened the door.

"Adrien, your father would like to see you." It was simple, and I don't even bother to question her, knowing she won't elaborate.

I can't help but wonder what it could be.

When I come out of my room and start down the stairs, my dad is already waiting for me at the bottom. I barely find him anywhere except for his office. This must be something important.

I walk down the stairs and face my dad, looking up. His face is as stern as usual, his eyes intense and his lips curved down in an eternal frown. I doubt I've ever seen him smile since Mom died.

"Adrien, you amaze me." Now that was a surprise. Since when did I amaze my dad? What could I have possibly done? It's not like I just did anything special. What's going on?

"What, wha-"

"I don't know how you stay so positive when Emili- your mother disappeared. I know I've been very hostile to you lately, and I'm sorry for that." And he wraps his arms around me in a hug.

Wow. I rarely get to hug my dad, but I love the feeling. It makes me feel like there's always someone out there who loves me, truly. Someone who cares for me. It makes me feel like I have a family again.

"Thanks dad. Nino just texted me, can I go to the Eiffel Tower and get some ice cream with my friends?"

And for the first time in so long, he smiles at me. And beneath that old, sullen face, I see the handsome fashion designer that my mother fell in love with. "Of course Adrien. Have fun."

I can't stop myself but hug him again. "Thanks dad. You're the best." And I walk out the front door with a new feeling that I can't really place my finger on. But I'll come to that later. Right now, I need some time with friends.

This day can't get any better.


	2. Chapter 2

Natalie sighed as she looked up at the portrait of Emilie. Emilie was gorgeous, that was a fact, no doubt about that. The resemblance between Adrien and his mother was unmistakable. It's no wonder Gabriel fell in love with such a woman. And no matter how much Natalie loved Gabriel, she couldn't find it in herself to hate Emilie.

She took one last look back at the door to make sure it was locked, before she took out the remotes and turned all the cameras off. Sighing, she reached inside the portrait and took out the peacock miraculous.

Transforming into Mayura was probably the most painful thing that ever happened to her. After Emilie died, the peacock miraculous was badly broken. The only reason Natalie had used it was because she couldn't bear to see Gabriel like that, beaten, helpless, and ashamed.

A glowing orb erupted from the miraculous, a blue one. When the glow faded away, there floated a kwami, with a long elegant neck and beautiful cool colors in its feathers. _The peafowl._

"Happy to see me again, Peafowl?" Natalie asked, her lips changing into a smirk. The peafowl bowed her head. "You copy your love so much that it's sickening. You know that I hate being treated like Nooroo. And anyway, my name's not 'peafowl', it's-"

"Shut up," Natalie snapped, and the peafowl did as she was told. "Hawkmoth gave up. We can't let that happen."

"Why not? I thought you wanted him to love _you,_ not Amelia."

"EMILIE!" Natalie shouted. "And that's enough! Feathers out!" The peafowl sighed as she got sucked into the clothespin that Natalie clipped onto her shirt.

Natalie started to twirl, and a beautiful dress replaced her crisp suit. Eyeshadow magically appeared on her eyelids, and her skin turned a distinct blue. High heels appeared on her feet, and a feather materialized in her hand.

"Mayura." Natalie smiled as she said her Supervillain name, tasting it in her body. "The Supervillain of despair." If Hawkmoth could make supervillains using negative emotions, so could she. She fingered her clothespin, and winced as a searing pain sliced through her mind. The peacock miraculous still was broken, like Gabriel said.

She closed her fist around the white, innocent feather, and darkness pooled into it. She remembered doing this when she was Catalyst, when she was going to save her love from certain defeat.

When she re-opened her hand, a dark purple feather sat there, instead of the white, pure one that's now gone. Closing her eyes, she reached her mind for any despair that's in the world, ready to evilize whoever that was.

After a few moments, she smiled, and blew the feather.

"Adrien! My man!" Nino walks up to Adrien and pats him on the back. Adrien smiles and waves at me. No way. There is no way that Adrien Agreste just waved at me. No. Way.

"C'mon Marinette, say hi!" Alya elbowed me.

"Uh, hi, Adrien! Hehe!" I manage to stutter out, smiling stupidly the whole time. Ugh, why do I have to stutter whenever I'm around him? Man up, Marinette!

"Hey Marinette! So since Nino and Alya are getting ice cream, I guess you and I are?" Adrien walked towards me, wearing his perfect smile, with his perfect green eyes, and his perfectly combed blonde hair.

"Oh, yeah, I uh, I love you! I mean I uh, would love you! I mean uh, I would love that!" Curse me and my stupid words!

Adrien laughs his perfect laugh. Alya rolls her eyes and facepalms, but I ignore her completely. My love life… is very interesting. Well, my first love is obviously Adrien, I mean, everything about him is perfect!

At first I thought he would be some kind of snobby rich person, like Chloe Bourgeois, but later he proved what kind of a person he is; the totally AWESOME kind!

Then, waltzing in, came Cat Noir. Okay, Cat Noir is handsome, and totally cool. But I have to admit, that even though Adrien doesn't go around saving the city with me, Adrien is a lost cooler that Cat Noir in my opinion. He's a hero in his own way! And although Cat Noir admitted his feelings for me, I can't find it in myself to love him yet. I'll admit, I was a little harsh on him. But I can't choose who I love. And that's that.

And then, Luka comes to me. Well, I came to him. Luka's really nice, but I can't help but think that he's a little bit of a show-off. His musical sense is amazing, but when he 'reads my heart', well, at least that's what I call it, it can be a little annoying. I almost fell for him, I really did. But then of course, Adrien becomes my number one choice again. Life is so complicated, don't you think?

"So… where is Andre today?" Alya asks, breaking the awkward silence.

"Um…" Nino slides open his phone and looks at the map. "I don't know where he is. No one posted it today."

"Well then… bicycle rides around the city to find him!" Alya offered. THIS IS THE BEST DAY OF MY LIFE! Going on a bicycle with Adrien? It's a dream come true!

"Why not?" Nino put his arm around Alya and together they walked over to a bike rental. Adrien and I looked at each other.

"They're the perfect couple," Adrien sighed as he looked over at our best friends, hopping onto a double bike. "You know when I asked you for love advice about Kagami?"

"Yeah," I sigh. "That was bad."

"Huh?"

"I mean uh, yeah yeah, I remember, what about it?" Dang. I messed up again.

As usual, Adrien pretends not to notice. "So… well, I'm not sure that Kagami likes me. And after my first and second crush… I think I have to move on to someone else."

 _First and second? He had another crush before Kagami? Is it Chloe? NO NO NO TELL ME THAT IT'S NOT CHLOE!_

"Oh… who?"

Adrien laughs and shrugs his shoulders. "Well… you! But maybe just temporarily. Until I find someone else, if you don't like that idea."

 _DON'T LIKE THAT IDEA?! YOU GOTTA BE KIDDING ME! THIS IS THE BEST DAY OF MY LIFE!_

"Oh, of course I love the idea of you! I mean us! I mean uh, yeah us. Yeah. I love you - us."

"Great, uh, shall we ride a bike?" Adrien put his arm around me and we walked over to the bike rental. From the moment I saw Alya's facepalm, I knew I had on my stupid smile of happiness, the one that I always have on when Adrien is near me. I mean, I can't help it. He's just too perfect.

"Ladies first," Adrien smiled as he held the bike for me to hop on. I blush and look up at him. His expression is happy and care-free, but something deep down is making him sad. I don't know what, but may as well ask him when we're getting ice cream at Andre's.

Sitting in the back of the two person bike, Adrien getting in front, together, we pumped the pedals, our feet in perfect unison.

"Hey dude!" I hear Nino call from the two person bike he and Alya were sharing. Alya's arms were wrapped around Nino's waist, as together they sped off on a lap around the park. THey were always the perfect match.

After a good lap around the park, we spotted Andre's ice cream cart by the eiffel tower. "Oh, right on time!" Alya shouts as we park our bikes by the side of the street.

Nino and ALya link arms as Andre smiles at them. "Nino and Alya! The most perfectly matched couple I have ever seen! Watermelon base, with a touch of passion fruit! Enjoy your ice cream, and keep your love true!"

Adrien and I look at each other. I guess neither of us have really had this experience before. Finally, he puts on a sad smile and drapes his arm over my shoulder.

Andre immediately perks up at us. "If it isn't for pretty Marinette! And who is this? Adrien Agreste? I knew my ice cream would bring the best love birds together! Strawberry pink, the color of love, mint green, and raspberry red, the color of-"

"Marinette, hurry up!" I hear Alya and Nino shout. Adrien takes the ice cream and hands it over to me.

"Marinette, why don't you join your friends?" Andre asked in his italian accent. "I need to have a word with Mr. Adrien!"

"Oh, uh, sure," I smile at Andre before walking over to Alya and Nino. Whatever Andre has to say with Adrien has to be some serious love business. Whatever's bothering Adrien must be important. If only I could help him…

"Don't worry Marinette," Tikki's adorable voice rings in my ears. I look down to see Tikki smiling up at me. "Adrien's lucky to have a friend like you. After you defeat Hawkmoth, you can show him that you're Ladybug! Then he'll be _sure_ to love you!"

I sigh. "But I don't want him to love _Ladybug_ , Tikki. I want him to love Marinette. Just me. But if I have to show him who's really loving him, the Ladybug herself, I will. I just wish…"

"You've helped him a lot, Marinette! You've saved his _life!_ I'm sure he values his life over the many love problems he has. Besides, Andre will help him. He's the best love expert around Paris!"

"Hey, who are you talking to?"

I scream when I realize that Adrien's sitting on my left, with his own ice cream. Surprise and sorrow both stab me in the heart. He's not meant to be with me. Even Andre says so. We have separate ice creams. We're not meant to be after all.

"Red cherry base, black ebony hair, and her sky blue stare?" I guessed, looking at the ice cream cone. Something clicked in my mind, but I can't quite place it. I know this person… whoever he's in love with.

"So… who's this lucky girl, Adrien?" Alya leaned over from Nino, nodding at his ice cream.

Adrien blushed, looking up at a Ladybug poster. "I can't tell you."

"So… it's not Marinette?" Nino asked, and Alya punched him in the guts. But I don't even wait for Adrien's answer to know that it's not me. What kind of Red cherry base is that for? I hate cherries anyway. It's not me. Adrien will find his love and he'll live happily ever after without me. I don't matter to him. Why does he need me?

"I… have to go. Sorry Adrien. Enjoy your ice cream, everyone. Have fun." I blink back tears as I stand up, turning away from Adrien. The worst thing that could happen is crying in front of my best friend, her date, and the love of my life.

"Marinette, you said you were free the whole night," Alya complained, waving her phone. She shot me a look that said; _Don't you dare. DON'T YOU DARE LEAVE US. Don't you DARE leave Adrien._

"I know, actually, my parents are going out tonight, and I have to run the bakery, so uh, enjoy, guys." Tearing my gaze away from Alya's, I put a few coins in a bike rent machine and walked the bike to the center of the street.

"Marinette-"

I spin back to stare into Adrien's beautiful green eyes. I've seen these eyes before, on someone else's face. Someone else I love. I know that I know them… but I can't remember who. The green is weaved with a little bit of blue, the sadness in his heart reflected in his gaze.

"Adrien… I really have to go. I'm sorry but-" tears choke my words. I cannot cry. I CANNOT.

"Find someone else to help you with your love life. I'm not meant to be with you. I'm sure _Kagami_ would make a better date. Or whoever you're in love with."

"But-"

"I HAVE TO GO." I turn my gaze at Alya, and I can't keep the snap out of my voice. It cracks down like a whip on all three of them. For all I know, this is the first time I let my bad side out on those I love.

Swinging one leg over the seat, my feet pedal myself away from them, my eyes refusing to look back, no matter how much I want to.

Water pelts my head, and looking up, the clouds are gray and rain is falling down. Nobody else is on the street. It's just me. Thunder sounds overhead, and raindrops fall down my face.

And yet, some of them tasted like salt.


	3. Chapter 3

**Thank you to NoRatCat, carolatavs, Linh Song, sam(the guest), , avatarangel07231, SmallBlueTiger, and Zimmi123456 for following me and my story! I'm so glad you all enjoy it! Also, to Sam, the guest, thank you so much! I will try to update every week or less ;) Enjoy the new chapter!**

* * *

I hate my life.

Many people would consider it lucky that I'm born in a rich fencing family, and that I'm extremely skilled in the sport. But they probably haven't suffered through the terrors of evil parents.

"Kagami!" My mom shouts from downstairs. "You have school now! Get your butt out of your bed!"

"Yes mom," I groan as I get out of bed.

"Before you even begin to complain, I want you to go to the fencing practice stadium in ten minutes and fence with whoever is there, or with a dummy for half an hour. I gotta run to work, I have a sick fencing match today! After fencing practice, your driver will meet you outside the building and drive you to school. If you be late one more time, you'll have to do extra archery practice!"

"Yes mom," I repeat, still lying in bed.

"Love you, Kagami! Stay safe!" My dad yells as I hear the creaks of the front door opening and closing. Looking out the window of my bedroom, I see mom and Dad getting in the car before driving away

Hopping out of bed, I checked my phone. I only had one contact number, since my parents didn't allow me to get any others. Adrien Agreste.

He's so awesome. I don't remember ever having a crush in my entire life. My parents taught me to push down low lives, because they were no match for my skills. They told me not to waste time on making friends. As long as I do what they say, I'll have a bright future.

But when I lost to Adrien Agreste on the fencing match, and got akaumatized by Hawkmoth, I really started to have feelings for the boy. I didn't know he was a famous fashion model then. But his kindness really won me out.

I know I have competition. And I really don't care if he ends up with me. As long as he stays my friend, I'm fine.

 _Hey Adrien,_ I text. _You wanna go to fencing practice?_

The moment I send it, another text flies in my face. _Sorry, I'm going to a friend's house. See you at fencing after school today though?_

I sigh. _Sure. bye._

Shutting off my phone, I get my fencing things ready, then head off to the bathroom to brush my teeth and wash my face.

I suppose I am lucky to have such a big house and such good fencing skills, and a great friend, Adrien. I'm not really sure if I was his girlfriend yet, and whether my parents would approve of that or not. He kind of took me on a date, with his friend Marinette and her friend Luka. I used to do ice skating, but now, I really don't have time for such a sport. It doesn't have a lot of competition. Besides, it's way too graceful for me.

I was mad at Adrien for bringing Luka and Marinette. I guess I was just annoyed that he needed someone else to be around me, like he's scared of me. I don't think friends are supposed to be afraid of one another. Besides, what would he even be scared of? What am I gonna do, poke him with a saber?

Well, I suppose I did do that a few times. But c'mon, that was by accident. I still don't know what I am to him, just a friend, or more?

Maybe I'm just overthinking this too much.

Yeah, I'm totally overthinking this too much.

Grabbing my fencing gear and quickly putting on my usual short skirt, I head out of the mansion, jogging lightly towards the fencing practice area.

Jogging always was a great way to warm up my fencing. Fencing includes a lot of running back and forth, and what better way to practice for that than running?

I'm able to run an entire mile now, full out sprint, before stopping and waiting for death to come and end my exhaust. I think that's really helped my fencing, and I'm basically able to beat Adrien every time we fence now.

"I know you, don't I?"

I turn around, to look into the calming blue eyes of… wait, who the heck is this person?

"I don't speak to strangers." I reply curtly, facing away, continuing to walk forward and ready to run if necessary. If this is some stalker on the internet and heard about my family, I don't want to spend one more second around him. Yet, there was something really familiar about his face…

The boy laughed, and I realize that the tips of his hair is dyed blue. My eyes widen. I _do_ know him. He went to the ice rink with me and Adrien, and his other friend Marinette, the pretty Chinese girl.

"You went to the ice rink, didn't you?" I ask, my voice crisp and sharp, piercing through the silence. "What are you doing up at 5:00 AM? Go back to bed."

Mr. Blue Hair laughed again. "Quite bossy, aren't you? From the moment I saw you, I knew there was something that was bothering you in your heart. And I hate to see people in such pain."

I snorted. A sound a high class Japanese girl should not make. "Yeah yeah. You're no psychic. Don't try to impress me."

"I'm not trying to impress you. I'm just trying to understand you more, and if you let me, help you. Can we sit down and talk for awhile?"

He gently takes my hand, which makes it harder to pull away if he had viciously grabbed it. He leads me over to a bench, and sat down, motioning for me to do the same.

Taking out his guitar, he played a sad, short tune. Looking down at the floor, I carefully listen to it.

Closing my eyes, a memory resurfaces.

" _Kagami!" A whip lashes across my back, as I fall onto my knees, not looking up. Not daring to look up._

" _How dare you contradict me! You are of high class, can you understand that? Are you capable of understanding?" Another whip, and although it doesn't split my shirt, I can feel my back burning from the pain._

" _How could you want to go to school with those low lives? You will go to the school your father and I went to, and your grandmother and your grandfather! If you want to be successful in life, then you should know that it won't be easy. Listen to me closely, young lady." My mother grabs me by the collar and pulls me up._

" _If you care about those low lives so much, why don't you go and live with them?" she yelled, the sound echoing in my room. She throws me down on the floor, tears leaking out of the corners of my eyes._

I open my eyes.

"How… how do you do that?"

Blue Hair smiles. "You're a lot like Marinette, you know."

Then my scowl returns. I'm nothing like that low class baker girl. Or her low class guitar boyfriend.

"Sorry, are you trying to waste my time?" I snap. "Because time waits for no one. I have to go."

"Wait!" I turn around, forcing a roll of my eyes.

Blue hair boy looks at me. "What's your name?"

Instinctively I look around, looking for bystanders or stalkers. Then, looking back up, I sigh. "Kagami. You're Luke? Lukie?"

"Luka. Nice to meet you. If you ever want to talk, you can find me."

I can't help but smile. "See you later." And I continue jogging to fencing practice.

"So, Clara, we all know that you're usually happy and dancing with joy, but what special event has happened today that you simply cannot stop smiling?"

Clara Nightingale spun in a circle before looking at the camera. "My dear cousin from New York is coming, you see, to the capital of France, Paris, the great city!"

Audrey Bourgeois rolled her eyes and turned off the TV, and I hurry to match her 'Ridiculous! Utterly ridiculous!' posture.

"I doubt this newcomer even speaks French," Audrey sighed, taking out her phone and began rapidly texting who knows what. "Chlorine-Chloe hun, how's that fever of yours?"

I roll my eyes. "It's not a fever, mommy, it's a learning disorder! And everything is going fine, no one even suspects that I have Dyslexia!"

Audrey sighed and looked up. "That pathetic celebrity Clara Nightingale insisted that Gabriel Agreste comes to greet her cousin, and he insisted that we tag along. It's ridiculous. Utterly ridiculous."

I grinned. This was my chance. "Oh mother, we can't let that Gabriel Agreste boss us around! He wouldn't be this rich and fortunate if we hadn't - if _you_ hadn't found him! Tell him that we couldn't care less about this pathetic celebrity!" Diving into my 'damsel in distress' pose, I look up at my mother, who stuffs a grape in her mouth.

"Claudette - Chloe, the thing about this world, is that you pretend that you hate everything, but in reality, the interesting things that you actually want to see, you see, but you pretend to be very reluctant about it. It's how all celebrities live."

"Clara Nightingale-"

"She's not an actual celebrity, unlike us. She's just some songwriter, like that pathetic rock star Jagged Stone. But I'd like to give Clara's cousin a good impression of Paris, the capital of Fashion! And what better way to do that than introducing her to the Queen of Fashion herself?"

"You're right mom, you're absolutely right," I nod my head vigorously. "Jon Pascal, get me some chocolate croissants."

Jon bowed his head. "Yes, mademoiselle."

I sigh as I leave mom's room to go to my own. Looking in the mirror, I smile, seeing the monster that I have become. By now, yelling at people and accusing them for something they're not guilty of is a habit. It's partly Mom's fault; that's for sure. But my actions are always part me. At least my mom will be proud of me. Even if she can barely get my name right.

I always wanted to go to New York some day, and I've been learning English on my Language Learning app. Although it's ten times harder for me than for the average person, since I have both Dyslexia and depression. We'll discuss the depression part later. So don't ask.

My Dyslexia isn't that severe. It's just that all of the words in a sentence are pushed together super tight. It was a lot harder for me when I was in pre-school and elementary school. That's when Sabrina started to do my homework for me.

I think Sabrina and her dad are the only people besides my family that knows about my disorder. My parents trust her dad, who's the head of the police force in Paris. Sabrina understands - at least I think she does. When that pathetic loser Nathaniel got akaumatized, she almost left me to suffer in my own horrors of this world! How unacceptable! Utterly unacceptable! All because of that loser Du Pain Cheng.

Urg, even thinking about her makes my brain hurt. Well, at least I'm Queen Bee, and no one can dismiss the fact that I am a superheroine! I even helped defeat Catalyst. I know, I'm stunning.

"Mademoiselle, your mother is waiting for you outside. It's time to meet Clara Nightingale's cousin -"

"Yes yes, I know, Jon Luke," I say, redoing my ponytail. "Tell mommykins and daddykins that I'll be right down."

"Of course, mademoiselle," Jon bows his head again and exits my room. Looking once more in the mirror, I follow him outside.


	4. Chapter 4

"Marinette! You had the chance of a lifetime to be with Adrien, and you, like, hardcore rejected him!" Tikki sighs as she hands me another tissue, and I blow my nose and toss it in the trash.

"He rejected _me,_ Tikki! He got his own ice cream. Which means I'm not the one for him! He doesn't love me the way I love him. It's about time I move on from him. I need to find someone else." _Easier said than done,_ the other part of my brain says. _Remember when you tried to do that before? You ended up falling for him even more._

"No you don't, Marinette!" Tikki flies right in front of my face, and I jump backwards. "You were so close! Adrien could have fallen for you just then! How could you leave him? A kwami's advice; go back and talk to him. Then after you said that you were sorry, and he said that _he_ was sorry, kiss him hard on the lips! And then you'll be a thing! Besides, who else could he possibly have a crush on?"

I roll my eyes. "Kagami. And the other person, who likes cherries and looks like me."

"Well…" Tikki takes a deep breath. Oh no. She's hiding something. "What if it's Ladybug that he has a crush on?"

I don't need to look in a mirror to know that my eyebrows have darted out of my head. "Whoa whoa whoa! _Ladybug?_ No way!" But I can't help but keep hoping. What if I asked him out as a superheroine? He couldn't possibly say no, right?

"Well, he can't refuse a date from Ladybug!" Tikki laughs. "Besides, I'm sure that is something his father would approve of! And you know just how much Adrien wants approval from his father."

"You're right he does! I'm gonna do it Tikki!" Leaping out of my chair, I run over to one of the pictures of Adrien, and kiss it. "I love you Adrien! I'm gonna do it! It's going to be okay! It's….. Ugh this is not going to work."

I scream when my phone rings, and I smile when Alya's face peers up at me. "Hey Alya! What's up?"

"You aren't going to believe what's happening!" Alya says, her face full of ecstasy and excitement. "Clara Nightingale's cousin from New York has just come over to visit! She's coming soon! And Ladybug and Cat Noir have to be there too! This will be so cool for the Ladyblog! And you're coming with me and my boyfriend, like it or not."

I laugh. "If Adrien's coming!"

Alya's face immediately falls. "No… he says that he can't make it. His father will be there, though. He says he's sick and needs to catch up on homework. But he'll be seeing that new girl around a lot. She's going to attend our school for the next month! Until she moves back to New York. But Adrien and Chloe are going to give her the official tour! Oh, and great news! Lila's coming back to school!"

That liar! That brat! That- okay, calm down Marinette, do not start cursing. "Oh, well, that's terrible! I mean uh, yeah, that's uh, _great_. Just _great._ Well, unfortunately, I can't come."

"Uh huh. And why not?"

"I'm uh… sick and need to catch up on homework."

"No you don't! You're copying Adrien's excuse now."

"Okay okay fine, I'll meet you there." Hanging up, I groan at Tikki. "Please don't let _that_ brat come back to school. She's even worse than _Chloe._ And there certainly are not a lot of people worse than her. And if Adrien falls for _her,_ I swear I will toss her off a cliff without second thought."

Tikki sighs. "I know Marinette. But you'll just have to cope with her. Why don't you and Chloe team up against her? That way, maybe Chloe will be less of a brat to everyone, and you'll prove to Adrien how good at making friends you are! He'll be very proud of you."

"You're right. Tikki, spots on!" I shout.

"Adrien, are you sure you don't want to come with me to welcome this newcomer all the way from New York? You've always wanted to go there." My father looks at me with what I hope is genuine concern, but I can't be sure. Not yet.

"I'm sure, Father. You guys go ahead. I'll be seeing her a lot lately. Besides, Chloe and I are giving a tour to her for our school!" My father nods and smiles at me. "If you'd like, you can add another friend for the tour. What about Nino?"

I smile. I still remember when my father absolutely hated Nino and claimed that he was a bad influence on me. He's changed now. And that's a change that I like.

"Uh, actually I think I'd like …" I think about it for a moment. Alya? No. Lila? No way. Marinette… "I'd like Marinette to tag along. I need to apologize to her for what happened yesterday." My father's eyebrows press together in a thin line of suspicion, but he knows that I won't elaborate. "The girl who won the fashion designing contest? I'm glad you're hanging out with her. She's one cool girl, she is. I would actually be very happy if you two became a thing. It would pass on the fashion to the new age. The new Fashion Designer Marinette Du Pain Cheng, and the famous model Adrien Agreste!"

I laugh. "She's a very good friend. And I love her in my own way." Faking a cough, I continue. "We actually did go on a date yesterday. Sort of. It just… didn't really end well. I'll give you the details after the welcoming."

My father nods, and leaves, calling for Natalie. Sighing, I walk over to my door and lock it. Plagg flies out of my jacket, tossing a slice of camembert in his mouth.

"Well, we'd better catch up to your father and his colleagues," he says, while I gag in the smell of stinky cheese. "Okay yeah, let's go. Plagg, claws out!"

Arriving at the welcoming stage, I walk over and shake Clara Nightingale's hand, and my father's. Clara twirls. "Thank you all for coming today! I'm sure my cousin has many thanks to say!"

"Well well, I wonder where milady is," I say, looking around for any familiar faces. Maybe I'll spot Marinette in those sea of faces. Or Chloe. Or Nino and Alya. And maybe Lila. Sighing, I know that she won't come. She's got this thing against Ladybug, when Ladybug ruined her chances with me. I didn't really want to date her in the first place, though. At least now I don't have to 'kindly reject' her.

"Ugh, where is Adrikins?! He's supposed to be here!" I turn, and see Chloe and her mother glaring at my father. Smiling, I walk over.

"Well, if it isn't for the famous Style Queen Audrey Bourgeois and her amazing daughter?" I say, fiddling with my stick. Chloe flips her hair. "Well, of course. Where's Ladybug? Aren't heroines supposed to stick together?"

I smirk. "Hey, what about me?"

"You're just Ladybug's second in hand." Chloe waves me away, and I shake my head, smiling. "Chloe Chloe Chloe."

"Well, I was wondering when you would start to miss me," a voice says, swinging in from the windowsill.

"Miladybug," I say, bending down to kiss her hand. She laughs. For some reason, she doesn't pull away like she usually does. Again, a change that I like from someone I love.

"Well, at least I know that _you're_ never going to lose hope in me," she sighs. "Talking about hope, I uh, I need your help with something. But we can do that _after_ the welcoming."

"Anytime, milady," I smile, winking at her. She laughs again.

"Ladybug! Cat Noir! The heroes of Paris! Here? To welcome a measly high school student? Ridiculous, utterly ridiculous." Audrey Bourgeois puts on her sunglasses, and she and Chloe go into their sassy pose, as if they were too good for the world.

"Don't forget, this is a _celebrity's_ cousin we're welcoming, all the way from the United States of America!" Ladybug smiles. I smile as well, remembering when Ladybug used to absolutely hate Chloe Bourgeois. When Nathaniel was akaumatized, Ladybug refused to stay behind and protect her. Now, Ladybug is almost understanding towards Chloe.

"The United States?" a voice says from behind, laughing. "I've been there so many times! Prince Ali took me there, with my boyfriend Adrien Agreste." Rolling my eyes, I don't look back to know who it is.

"Lila, Adrien's not your boyfriend," Ladybug states angrily, I could almost say with _jealousy,_ rolling her eyes. "We know your lies too well."

"Well, that's rude, from a superheroine," Lila laughs, and Ladybug narrows her eyes. "You probably don't know that, since you probably couldn't care less about the common lives of the people in Paris. But since you're not interested, I won't fill you in on the details. Pleasure to meet you, Cat Noir!"

Ladybug sighs and facepalms, receiving Lila's annoyance through a scowl.

"Cat Noir, let's go." Taking my hand, Ladybug drags me over to the stage, where Clara immediately wraps her arms around both of us.

"Ladybug! Cat Noir! The heroes of Paris! The ones who have protected all Parisians and refused to let us perish!" She shouts, as the crowd cheers. Ladybug waves shyly, her posture and nervous smile reminding me of Marinette. Taking a closer look, _all_ of her features remind me of Marinette. No. That can't be.

"And here she comes!" Clara shouts in delight, pointing at a black-haired girl who walks confidently on stage. She has dark brown eyes, and shoulder-length hair. Her face in a permanent smirk, she walks forward and shakes Clara's hand.

"The cousin of mine! Is there anything I can do for thine?" Clara twirls as she spins the girl with her right hand.

"Thanks Clara, but no, I'm fine. This is my first time here!" She says in fluent French, looking around. The first thing I see is her black, phoenix tattoo on her neck, with golden flames dancing around it. Like, legit _dancing._ It was a freaking moving tattoo. Narrowing my eyes, I realize that she's really pretty. Her almond shaped eyes survey every inch of the room, and every face in it. Reminds me of milady when she's thinking of ways to use her lucky charm.

"Oh! Ladybug! Cat Noir! The heroes of Paris!" Clara drags her cousin over to us, and I wave, winking at her in what I hope was a charming way.

Immediately, she blushes a little, but keeps up her guard. "Heroes of Paris? Well, it's nice to see another miraculous holder! I'm Nightingale, by the way. Well, that's my miraculous name."

 _Another miraculous holder?_

I don't need to look at Ladybug's face to know that she's as surprised and confused as I am. The girl laughs. "Why do you guys look so surprised? Anyhow, tell me your miraculous and your powers!"

Ladybug and I exchange a suspicious glance. Her glare tells me; _Don't tell her. We can't trust her yet. She might be another Lila._

I wink at her in response and kiss the new girl's hand. She blushes even more fiercely. "Just wanted to introduce myself. I'm Cat Noir," I say, leaning on my stick. "Miladybug and I fight villains here in Paris. Why don't you tell us _your_ miraculous first, then we'll give you _our_ information?"

Ladybug looks up at me in an approving smile. _Good job Kitty,_ I can almost hear her words in my ear. Even the thought makes me smile proudly.

She smiles again. "Why not? I'm Cassidy Nightingale. My miraculous is my tattoo. And I have the power of silence. That's… all I'm going to tell you for now."

I nod at her. She seems pretty cool. But I know that Ladybug's not going to be satisfied with that little info. Her pushiness is so…. Irresistible! I think that's why I couldn't talk to Marinette the other day. I don't want to lie to her. Like what Ladybug said to me, about the other boy she was in love with. I sigh internally. She'll discover how much we're meant to be. I know she will. I trust her to do so.

"Really? You're not going to be another _Volpina,_ are you? Besides, all miraculouses are supposed be something you can wear, usually a piece of jewelry. How can you possibly have a miraculous that's a tattoo? And why are you so open about your secret identity?" Lila curls her fists when she hears Ladybug emphasize _Volpina._

Cassidy just tilts her head in confusion. Then she shrugs. "I don't know who Volpina is, but I'm sure that she was horrible." Lila's eyebrows furrow and she leaves the room without saying a word. I find that kind of funny.

"And as for the miraculous question… I thought that a miraculous had to be _attached_ to you! Otherwise someone could just steal it!"

I sigh. "Exactly."

She shrugs again. "I suppose things in New York are different from things in Paris. Oh, and why am I so open about it? Well… no one can really _take_ my miraculous, since it's literally attached to my skin. Until my kwami senses that I can no longer be a superhero, the tattoo dissolves from my skin and reappears on the next Nightingale's skin. Kind of creepy, but totally awesome too!"

I laugh. "I have a feeling I will enjoy being partners with you, even if it is for only one week. Do us a solid and transform will you?"

She smirks. "Why not?"

She straightens, and shouts; "Lunar! Silence reigns supreme!" She runs her hand down her hair, and her originally down hair automatically braids itself. I feel my jaw drop. Huge, black wings sprout from her shoulders, and a feathered coat lines her back, ending with a mini-cape thingy for her tail.

She smiles again. "That's it. And… Ladybug… I know that you don't trust me yet. And I completely understand that. But you have my word. I will _never_ lie to my fellow superheroes. Because birds of a feather flock together. And I trust _everyone_ in my flock. Including you two. So if you don't trust me, just know that i trust you. And I think I've had enough for the day. Audrey Bourgeois, I mean, Queen of Fashion, will you and your beautiful daughter take me to where I will be staying in your hotel? I can't wait for my tour later today!"

Chloe pushes us aside as she walks forward sassily to greet Cassidy. Ladybug and I both facepalm at the same time.

"Hey Kitty…." she whispers. "I need to talk to you. About everything. Can we meet up tonight at some place?"

I have to admit that I'm startled. Ladybug asking me to meet up with her? As superheroes? Usually it was _me_ trying to get her to go on a date with me. Has she really started developing feelings for me? I can't help but hope.

"Sure. Let's meet up 6:00 PM at the eiffel tower?" I wink at her and she smiles. But not in her usual confident smile. This is more… sad.

I put a hand on her back. "Hey, what's wrong?"

She just smiles again. "You'll find out at 6:00." With that, she wraps her yoyo around the windowsill and tugs, flying out of the room. I sigh in amazement, like I do every time I see her dramatic exits.

A hand lands on my shoulder, and I jump backwards in surprise. "Oh. Cassidy."

Cassidy smiles kindly at me. I'm starting to worry if she's like Lila; just another liar trying to get my attention and love through her despicable lies.

Half expecting her to lean forward and kiss me, a look of terror crosses my face. Instead, she leans towards my ear. "No matter what, I will make sure Ladybug loves you." and she flies off. Legit _flies_ off. I can still feel her warm breath on my ear.

 **Thank you everyone so much for following this story and favoriting it! Remember, all constructive criticism and comments are welcomed with open arms! Love you all!**


	5. Chapter 5

**_Thank you so much to minyooni98 for commenting! A response to minyooni98: "Thank you so much! You're the best!" And thank you to bunny0320 for following my story!_**

 _Man that boy is gorgeous._

That was my first thought when I see Cat Noir.

I have to admit, I was really surprised when I met two new miraculous holders in Paris. I thought that there were only miraculouses in New York, and maybe other parts of the United States. But I suppose I was wrong.

I wonder what kinds of villains these Parisian superheroes fight. Is it as bad as the supervillains that I fight? Is it easy? No. It can't be easy.

I don't know why I promised to Cat Noir to convince Ladybug to fall in love with him. I have a feeling that I will be meeting Cat Noir's true identity soon, and a feeling that he goes to my school. And usually, my feeling's are correct.

Lunar flies out of my coat pocket. "Cassidy! I'm so happy that we went to Paris! Tikki, Plagg and I haven't seen each other in so many centuries!"

I smile. "I'm glad I came too."

Lunar's excited smile turns serious. "What you did back there for Cat Noir was very noble and selfless! I'm also glad that I chose _you_ as the next Nightingale superhero!" We do a quick cheek rub and I sit down on my beautiful, queen sized bed.

The hotel is very big, and noble. Clara insists that she pay for my staying here, and the mayor insists that he will give the room to me for free. The mayor seems to be a very kind man, no matter how spiteful his wife is. This is certainly not the first time I have met the Queen of Fashion, Audrey Bourgeois. When she comes to New York, usually I have to go welcome her to my state. I'll admit; in the beginning she did seem rude, stupid, sassy, and well, bourgeois! (if you don't know what that means, feel free to use ) But after you get to know her, she really does have a heart, and believe it or not, she does have friends.

Her daughter Chloe seems to be just like her on the outside, but silence sees through everyone. And I know from the moment I see her that she is nothing like her mother, no matter how much she tries to be.

I see her struggle when she reads the French words that I can easily read, even though French is my fourth language, fourth to Chinese, English, and Latin. It's strange, especially for a girl born of wealth and this age. But I don't have time to figure that out right now.

I wonder if there are only two miraculous holders in Paris. Although it's usually me who shows up to fight villains, I do have three partners; I have EagleEye, which is my closest friend in school. He has the gift of foresight; he can see 5 minutes into the future and anticipate the acts of his opponent. Unfortunately, he can only use this attack on one person at a time.

Slither has the kwami of the snake, which after a long history lecture by Nightingale, is apparently the close cousin of Sass, the snake kwami here in Paris. Slither doesn't talk much, but he has the power of super-speed and agility. He can probably punch someone fifty times within a second. I'll admit it, I sort of have a crush on him. But after seeing Cat Noir, I'm not really sure who to choose. Or if I'll choose at all.

And last but definitely not least, Lupa. Lupa actually means 'wolf' in Latin as I learned in school when I was in middle school. So yes, she does take form of a wolf. Her power is basically extreme senses in eyesight, hearing, and smell. If she tried, she could probably hear a butterfly's wingbeat from a mile away! I don't know. I've never tested Lupa to her full potential. For all I know, Lupa doesn't go to my school. And I've never seen her without her superhero suit and mask and stuff.

Then there's me. The superhero of silence and suffocation. And silence is more than just 'no sound'. Silence kind of well… _silences_ other superhero or supervillain powers. Like, make them stop working. I think I'm more along the lines of destruction. By far, my power is the most destructive.

A knock sounds on my door, and I rush to get it, while Lunar enjoyed herself with the many cheesecakes that I ordered.

When I open the door, the face of Jon… you know what, I won't even bother to say his last name.

"Madam, Chloe, Marinette and Adrien are here to bring you to your school," he says in his heavy French accent. I nod and smile. "Of course, of course. I will be right down there, thank you for letting me know."

"Your welcome, madam," he says, bowing before going down the elevator.

I chuckle. "You ready to go, Lunar?"

Lunar flies over in less than a second, phasing through the door and going down the stairs with me. "Anytime, Cassidy!"

When I reach the bottom floor, three people greet me. Of course, it's Adrien, Marinette, and Chloe. I already know Chloe, and the other two aren't that hard to figure out who's who. Immediately, Marinette and Adrien both strike me as familiar. Not like the old friends kind of familiar, but like I've seen them somewhere.

Thinking a little more deeply, I see the connection. Shaking my head a few times, I smile. People are blind these days.

"Cassidy Nightingale! Well if it isn't for the cousin of a _celebrity_ herself! You've already met me. This is Adrikins, the famous fashion model for his dad, Gabriel Agreste, and this is the loser Marinette DuPain Cheng!"

Marinette balls her fists and her eyes narrow, and I chuckle. "It's nice to meet you all. I can't wait to see my new school! Lead the way, Chloe."

Chloe tosses her hair as she walks sassily out of the hotel, and Adrien, Marinette and I start laughing. Adrien and I both blush, and I see Marinette frown out of the corner of my eye.

 _No matter what, I will make sure Ladybug loves you._ I guess I don't need to help them. Fate has place them together already.

I see Marinette eyeing me suspiciously out of the corner of her eye, and I almost chuckle at the similarity of when she did when she was Ladybug. Adrien's staring at her in the corner of his eye, which leads me to the conclusion that he thinks that Marinette is Ladybug. Don't ask how I know, silence knows everything ;)

Lunar flies out of my jacket, and looks around, her eyes narrowing. Chloe, Adrien and Marinette all stare at her with awe and suspicion.

"Is that a kwami? Like Pollen?" Chloe asked.

I nod. "Her name is Lunar. She senses the presence of something-or someone. But it's probably not dangerous. Can I have a word with her privately?"

Chloe rolls her eyes as we stop by a building and I duck into an alleyway. Lunar turns to me with her adorable, wide, brown eyes. "Tikki and Plagg are close! I can't wait to hear all about the great deeds they accomplished throughout history! I heard that Tikki created Stonehenge in England! And Plagg sunk Atlantis! This is all so amazing! What if I can also see Sass and Wayzz and Roarr and Pollen and Trixx and-"

I laugh. "I'm sure you'll be able to see them, Lunar. But we'll deal with that after the tour, I promise. You do know where the guardian of the Miraculous for Paris is, right?"

Lunar shook her head shamefully. "Sorry Cassidy. But I'm sure Tikki won't mind telling me!"

I nod. "But we don't want to keep them waiting. Cat Noir and Ladybug are so cute next to each other, I ship it so hard."

Lunar laughs. "They're lucky to have a partner like you, even if it is only for a few months."

I smile sadly. "I wish I could stay longer."

"Cassidy?" Adrien peeks his head around the corner, and I nod, Lunar riding on my shoulder.

Arriving at the school, I look around for familiar faces. I spot Lila in the corner, waving at Adrien. Looking over at Adrien, Adrien looks at her, sighs in disappointment and looks back at Marinette, who looks down.

I almost feel bad for them. But they'll come round sooner or later.

"Lemme guess, that's the Volpina you were talking about earlier?" I laughed, elbowing Marinette. Adrien immediately perked up, confused.

"I mean uh, well, before you guys picked me up, Marinette and I were talking, and she said something about someone called Volpina, who was absolutely terrible," I say quickly, winking at Marinette, who gasps in return.

She grabs my elbow and pulls me to the side. "What are you talking about? So you _are_ another Lila! How could you?"

"Whoa whoa whoa," I say, freeing myself from her grasp. "Don't try to hide your secret from me, Ladybug. I know who you are. But I don't usually lie. I have a feeling I won't like this _Lila_ girl, but I'm your partner for the next month, and Hawkmoth is _bound_ to attack sooner or later. I could help you! But you have to trust me."

Marinette scrunches up her eyebrows. "I'm not that easily swayed, Cassidy. Besides, I am _not_ Ladybug. I have absolutely no idea what you're talking about."

I laugh. "Yeah right. I know miraculouses too well."

Instinctively, her hand darts to her earrings.

"Lunar," I say turning to my left shoulder, expecting to see the black bird there, but Lunar was gone.

"Tikki?" Marinette says in turn, looking in her purse and in her jacket.

I laugh again. "Must have ran off. Kwamis can't control themselves, can they?"

At this Marinette smiles as well. "I have a feeling Cat Noir and I will like working with you."

I fist-bump her. "That's the spirit, girl."


	6. Chapter 6

**Chapter Six:**

 _ **This is basically a retell of Chameleon!**_ _**Can't wait for the next episode of Season 3!**_

"Natalie?"

Natalie rushes out of Gabriel's office, standing at attention. Gabriel stood in front of the large photo of him and Adrien, both dressed in black, to mourn the loss of their dear Emilie.

"Mr. Agreste. Is there any way I can help you?" Natalie asked, bowing her head slightly.

Gabriel narrowed his eyes. "The peacock pin. You're wearing it."

Natalie gasped, and rapidly started scrolling through any possible excuse she could make. "I, uh, sir, I am sorry, but, I saw it on the floor, and her, I wanted to pick it up, and-"

"Don't lie to me like that!" Gabriel thundered, making Natalie jump back. She bowed her head in shame and respect. "I'm sorry sir. I will put it back right away. I know how much she means to you."

"Tell me what you did with it."

Natalie looked up, putting on a face of innocence and ignorance.

"I ordered something from you, Natalie. Please give me an answer when I asked for one."

"Yes, sir. I…." she took a deep breath. Lying to get herself out of trouble would be no use. "I blew the feather. It picked up a deep feeling of despair. And then you arrived home and I had to leave it. I'm very sorry, sir."

Gabriel glared at her, his temper rising. "How dare you do that? You enter my chamber without my permission! You take the miraculous without my permission! You blow the feather and leave it alone without my permission! What sort of an assistant are you? Do you need me to call Audrey Bourgeois over to give you a lesson and _fire_ you?"

At this, Natalie forced a smirk, making Gabriel glower more in anger. "You think this is funny, Natalie? You think I can't fire you this minute?"

Natalie cleared her throat. "You're very incorrect, sir. You can fire me this minute. But you won't, because you don't want anyone knowing your secret identity. And although I swore on my life never to tell anyone, you don't want to risk it."

Gabriel sighed in defeat. "Fine. But I am definitely taking some money off your paycheck for the year."

At this, they both smiled grimly. Then Natalie took out a miraculous box, and Gabriel gasped. "You got them?"

Natalie laughed. "Of course not, sir. It's time you take back Nooroo. I have a _killer_ plan ready to defeat Ladybug and Cat Noir. Lila has returned to Adrien's school and will no doubt make many people angry at her with her lies, especially regarding Adrien and his fans. And with the new Cassidy idiot who openly admitted her superpowers and her New York miraculous, many people will envy her. Choose the most angry person there, who has so much potential to fight Ladybug and Cat Noir, and use her to your advantage."

Gabriel was speechless. "Who…"

Natalie smirked, as she said the name that could change the future. "Marinette Du-Pan Cheng."

"Wait wait wait!" I yell as I run in through the school doors just as Mylene's dad, Fred, was closing them. He glared at me as I quickly finished the croissant in my mouth and ran to class, panting at the doorway. Then I straighten up. Another year of seeing the beautiful face of Adrien. And this time, I will tell him how I feel! After he apologized to me during Cassidy's tour, my feelings for him returned full blast. I probably love him even more than last year.

Taking a deep breath, I open up the door, peering in. I gasp. All the seating is different! And… is that an empty spot I see next to… _Adrien!?_

I smile giddily as I crawl around Adrien and stumble over the stairs to get to Alya, where she was sitting next to Nino in the second row and right behind Adrien. I kept my voice low so he couldn't hear.

"How'd you pull this off Alya? You're the best!" I say as Alya and Nino look up at me with confusion. "I can't believe you got everyone to swap seats so I can sit next to Adrien!" I smile happily at the thought. Hmm…

"Then again it might not be the best idea. He could keep me from paying attention in class, and if I fail it'd be a total disaster, because then Adrien and I will _never_ have our own house! The three kids, the hamster named-"

"Whoa girl, what are you talking about?" Alya pushed my face out of her seating area, smiling playfully. Then her smile turned into a look of confusion and a little disappointment too. "You're not sitting next to Adrien. Your seat is over there!" Alya pointed to the back row, behind Kim. No! No this is not good! I can't sit in the back! Adrien and I will never be close to each other in class, and we'll never start dating, and he'll never take me to the movies, and we'll never have a house together or three kids or a hamster!

"At the back?!" I asked Alya, glaring. "Why? What's going on?"

Nino leaned in. "Well, since she's got a hearing issue, there's _no way_ she can sit in the back of the class, right? Which means she needed a place at the front, right?"

"So to make it work, Ivan sat next to Mylene, Nate sat next to Alix, besides, she came up with the idea of moving Nino here, so now we can spend more time together!"

I narrow my eyes. "Who is this… she?"

Ms. Bustie claps her hands to get our attention, and I let out a _humph!_ As I look to the front of the class.

"Good morning students! I'm sure you've all heard by now that Lila's home from her trip to Achoo and she's back in school with us again!"

Sure enough, Lila walks in the classroom, waving innocently. "Hi everyone!"

"Hi Lila!" They echo, smiling at her. I look around, betrayed.

She gasps in delight. "Oh! A seat for me in the front row! You all remembered my hearing issue! You're such sweethearts, all of you! Mua! Mua!" She blows us all kisses, and I wrinkle my nose in them.

As Lila takes her seat next to Adrien, I cross my arms. "You have a hearing problem, Lila?"

She sighs. "Yes, I suffer from tenitus, a constant ringing in my left ear. I had it ever since the sound of an airplane engine burst my eardrum on the runway when I was saving Jagged Stone's lost kitten!" She resumed her innocent look while lying her way into my classmates brains. But I had caught a mistake.

I smirk at her proudly. "Isn't Jagged Stone's pet a crocodile?"

She laughs, like it was no big deal. "Now it is, yes, but he had a kitten, until he found out that he was allergic to it! The best part is," she said, leaning in closer to Adrien. I don't miss the fact that he scoots back a little from her. That makes me at least a little bit happy. "Since you're such an excellent student, Adrien," she continues, "you'll be able to help me catch up on all the schoolwork I missed while I was travelling with my parents! Would you do that for me?" She bats her eyelashes.

"Sure, Lila," Adrien says. A wave of anger and jealousy overcomes me. "Ms. Bustier, why do _I_ have to sit in the back now?"

She just simply shrugs. "Do you have any trouble hearing or seeing, Marinette?"

I jump as I try to find a good answer to that without embarrassing myself in front of my classmates - and Adrien. "I, uh, I…"

"My eyesight and hearing are good! I'll sit in the back of the class, and you two, can sit up front! I don't mind."

"NO!" I say quickly, and I glare at Lila when she says the same thing. I don't need to look to know that she's going to come up with another lie now.

"My return is causing so much trouble, maybe I should have just stayed on the other side of the world. If Marinette has an issue too, then I should be the one to go sit in the back!" She stands up. "It's okay."

Everyone gasps and stares at me, or maybe I should say, _glares_ at me. I look around, trying to find supporting faces. When I find none, I sigh in defeat. "It's okay! I don't actually have any problem seeing or hearing, I mean-"

"Good! So there's no problem then! You sit here, Lila. Adrien, stay where you are, and Marinette you sit in the back row." I watch angrily as Lila slowly walks back to her seat and sits a little closer to Adrien.

I turn my back and walk to my seat, staring at the two. Lila's hand is on Adrien's shoulder, and she's laughing lightly. I'll admit it, she's really pretty on the outside. But on the inside, she's a wretched stupid b*tch. I emit a low growl. She's already wormed her way into my classes' minds. I won't let her take Adrien away from me.

"Ah, high school," Hawkmoth says as he opens up his window to the entire city of Paris. "The arena of teenage angst. Where emotions are so intense, the perfect stadium for my dear akumas." A butterfly flies to the middle of his left palm, and he clasps his right hand over it, darkness seeping into the butterfly's pure white wings.

"Being separated from your friends, becoming isolated, just what deceiving anger is made of." The akuma flies from his hand through the open pane of glass.

"Fly away, my little akuma. And evilize this angry high school girl!"

I watched as Lila patted Adrien's jacket. That's just weird. But even just the thought of her touching Adrien creeped me out _and_ made me furious.

It's unfair why _I_ have to sit in the back just because of Lila's stupid lies. So stupid and unfair!

"Okay students! Open your books to page 23!" Ms. Bustier said. I sighed and took a deep breath. It's my duty to remain Adrien's friend, but it's also my duty to study well in school. And I know for a fact that if I don't calm down to study, I'll never get anything done. I clicked open my tablet and turned to the assigned page.

"Strange, I feel the fury dying down," Hawkmoth says, disappointedly. Then his lips curved into a smirk. "But the wheels are in motion. It's only a matter of time. Be patient now, my akuma." The purple butterfly flies over to the top of the school, ready to strike when the anger becomes unbearable.

"That's for you Lila!" I growl as I take a croissant for my lunch.

"Thank you, you're so sweet!" Lila crooned.

"Here's your appetizer Lila!"

"And I got your main course!"

"I'll fetch your dessert!"

"I'm sorry I can't carry my own tray," Lila says. "It's almost impossible with a sprained wrist!"

Kim pushes past me and Alya to grab a cheescake for Lila. "Sorry!" He says in a hurry, and giving it to Lila. I narrow my eyes. Lila's turning everyone into her own _slaves_. Next, Alya and Nino will be on her side! And maybe even Adrien! No! I cannot let that happen.

"Lila's totally lying, she made up that whole tenitus story just so she can sit next to Adrien, and her sprained wrist is completely bogus too!"

Alya sighs. "I don't get it Marinette. You barely even know Lila, why all the hate?"

It's my turn to sigh. Alya has such a good heart. "Fine. I'll tell you _everything._ " I grab Alya's arm and Nino's, and pull them to our separate table.

"You remember Lila when she first came to school right after the summer break? She was only here for one day, and then she left on that round the world trip, and everyone was… _captivated_ by her! Something just felt, _off_ to me. So I…" I lower my voice. "Followed her."

"What?" Nino and Alya say at the same time.

My mind flashes back to when Lila was lying to Adrien just to get his love. " _Not only did Ladybug save my life, we've become very close friends!"_ I growl at the thought.

"She lies with every breath!" I say furiously, trying to make them understand. Alya will understand. _She has to._

"Wait, you eavesdropped on Lila and Adrien?! That's not cool!" Nino glares at me.

"A good reporter always verifies her sources. Can you prove she doesn't actually know Ladybug?" Alya asks.

"Uh… well…" An image of me fighting villains with Cat Noir comes up, fighting Princess Fragrance, Pharoah, Stormy Weather… "Well I um, I…okay, you want proof she's lying?" I take my napkin and crumple it up into a ball.

"Hey Lila, you forgot your napkin!" I toss it at her hard.

Immediately, Lila catches it with her so-called sprained wrist.

"Aha!" I jumped up in my seat, triumphant. "See that? It's obvious she doesn't have a sprained wrist!"

Everyone gasps and looked at her. _You just got exposed, Lie-la!_

Lila looks around for supporting faces, but finds none. I smirk.

"Ouch!" She suddenly dropped the napkin. "Once when I was in India, I witnessed someone getting their eye gouged out by a corner of a napkin. If I hadn't caught it, this napkin could have injured Max!" Everyone gasps, and I growl in return. "I didn't have a choice," Lila says quietly. "Ow!"

"Lila! You saved my eye! You sacrificed yourself for me!" Max was astonished.

"Why wouldn't I, Max? Ouch! You're my friend!" Lila says, smiling that fake, f*cking smile.

"We'll take you to the nurses' office," Sabrina says quickly.

Mylene turns to me. "Are you proud of yourself?"

"Lila's in even more pain!" Kim adds. "All because of you!"

Lila quickly puts out her hands to stop him. "No no no! Don't blame Marinette! She was just trying to give me a napkin! Right Marinette?" Lila bats her eyelashes at me.

I'm taken aback of how easily Lila manipulated my classmates. My surprise quickly turns to anger as I walk out of the room in fury, everyone watching me leave. Ignoring them, I slam open the bathroom door, glaring at my reflection in the mirror. I look like a monster. A monster made from Lila's stupid lies.

I'm surprised when the bathroom door opens, and wrinkle my nose when I see Lila in the doorway. Of course, trying to hypnotize me as well with her lies. Unfortunately for her, I'm not so easily fooled as my classmates.

"Marinette?" she puts on an innocent face. Then she gasps, as she puts out a hand to comfort me. "Are you crying?"

My eyebrows furrow in disgust. "No, I'm not!"

Lila pulls her hand back from me. "I can sense that you don't like me, but I don't understand why! We barely know each other." Huh. My mind flashes back to when I first met Lila, this time in Ladybug form. _Miss show-off here was trying to impress you_.

Lila gasps. "Don't tell me it's about the new seating arrangement in class!" I just roll my eyes and turn away from her. "It is!" She continues to say in that sickly innocent voice. "Of course! You were jealous because I was sitting next to Adrien. Because you would've given anything to sit there yourself." I scoff quietly.

Lila's lips turn to a smile. "You know what? It's really not worth fighting over a boy. You and I could be friends, and who knows? I might even be able to help you with Adrien!"

I am DONE.

"You and I will only be friends the day you stop lying, Lila!" she gasps, still trying to maintain that innocent look. I advance on her. "I can't prove it, but I know for a fact that you don't have tenitus, your wrist is just fine, that you don't know Prince Ali because you've never even set foot in Achoo, and despite what you got Alya to write on her Ladyblog, Ladybug has _never_ saved your life!"

Lila sighs. Then she smirks at me. "I only tell people what they want to hear."

"It's called LYING." I spit back.

"There's nothing you can do about it, they _adore me._ Anyway." She starts walking towards me, forcing me backwards. "People can't resist what they like to hear. If you don't want to be my friend, fine. But soon you won't have _any_ friends left at all, and trust me, I'll make sure you never get close to Adrien in class or _anywhere_." I noticed that I am back to back with the wall. Oh great.

Lila puts her hands on the wall behind me, cornering me. "You're obviously a little less _dumb_ than the others, so I'll give you one last chance. You are either with me, or _against_ me. You don't have to answer right away; I'll give you until the end of class today." With that, she flicks her hair and leaves, smiling triumphantly. I'm speechless.

I run into a bathroom stall, locking the door. "I thought Chloe was evil, but Lila really takes the whole cake! She's like a supervillain who doesn't even need a costume!"

Tikki flies out of my purse. "You musn't let her get to you Marinette!"

I glare at her. "If I don't manage to expose her lies, she'll ruin my life, Tikki! She'll turn all my friends against me, including Adrien! Argh!" I try to keep my anger contained, but I can't stop myself from slamming my fist into the bathroom walls.

I sigh and bend down, tears leaking out of my eyes. This will by far be the worst year ever. I'd prefer _Chloe_ to someone like Lila. The stupid b*tch.

Tikki gasps. "Marinette look out!" I scream as I look up and see a large purple butterfly flying in from the bathroom stall door. "Ah! An akuma!" I close my eyes and hope for the best.

Lila walks down the hall, smirking triumphantly. She _always_ wins, and no person like Marinette can get in her way. She is invincible. She opens the door, ready to go out. But Adrien beats her to it.

"Hey Lila!" Adrien walks in. Lila holds up a hand. "Adrien! I want to figure out when you were going to help me catch up on all the schoolwork I missed! I also heard you play piano? My uncle's a great pianist, Stroke Bourochet, he wanted to teach me when I was little, but I had to stop because of arthritis. But when my wrist gets better, I'd love for you to give me some lessons!"

Adrien sighs. "Lila, I'm perfectly happy being friends with you, and I'll gladly help you catch up on your schoolwork! But, please don't lie to me like you did last time with Ladybug."

Lila gasps. Her mind flashes back to when she first saw Ladybug and lied about her. _So I guess you aren't a descendant of a superhero either? She's more like a superliar._

Lila's eyebrows furrow. "Ladybug's the _liar._ "

"I'm not judging you, Lila. But instead of making friends, you're going to turn everyone against you. You can tell me if there's something bothering you. I can help. But you need to be honest with me." Adrien puts his hands on Lila's shoulders, but Lila's anger is uncontrollable.

"Are you trying to be a superhero, luxuring me like Ladybug did? Well _thanks,_ but NO THANKS!" Lila leaves, her hair hitting Adrien in the face. Ouch.

"...I'm still here if you need help catching up on schoolwork." Adrien looks at the door disappointedly before walking to his locker to put down his stuff.

"You can resist it Marinette! Hawkmoth's power only effects people who think there's no solution to their problem!" I scream as the akuma circles closer to my face.

"YOU CAN ALWAYS FIND A SOLUTION!" Tikki yells in my ear. I smile. "You're right." I muster all my bravery from Ladybug and the akuma flies away from me. Phew.

"You won't get me!" I say to the akuma. "I'm proud! I'm confident! I'm MARINETTE!" The akuma flies through the bathroom stall door.

I look at Tikki determinedly. "We can't just let that akuma roam in the school! Time to transform! TIkki, spots on! Yeah!" I shout in thrill as Tikki enters my earrings, spots bursting on them. You know what, I just won't give you the full transformation process. You guys already know ;)

"I can't _stand_ those super goody-two shoes! Ah!" Lila gasps as she spots an akuma in front of her, flying desperately to find negative emotions to take over.

"Yes! Here's my chance!" Lila shouts. Lila grabs the akuma with her hand. "Come here akuma!" She releases it right next to her ear, the akuma entering her earring. A purple silhouette of a butterfly appears on her face, as she communicates with Hawkmoth.

"Hawkmoth, I am Lila. I know you want to destroy Ladybug, and so do I!"

Hawkmoth grins. "Yes, I remember you!"

"Give me supervillain powers and I'll give you her _and_ Cat Noir's miraculous!"

"With pleasure, I have some new powers for you, Chameleon!"

Lila laughs maniacally as purple spreads over her, encasing her body.


	7. Chapter 7

I run out of the bathroom, tripping over the floorboards. "Eee!" I scream as Adrien walks by me and I quickly dodge back into the girls room to save my pride.

"I gotta find another way!" I scold myself. I look up and smile at the air vent.

Adrien opens the door to get out of the locker room, and he smiles when he sees Lila. "Hey- Whoa!" He says when Lila pushes him back in the locker room.

"Adrien! I wanted to apologize for what just happened! I thought about it, and you were right, I want us to be friends so I'll never tell another lie again. Will you make peace with me?"

Lila leans in and kisses Adrien on the lips. When she pulls away, she's in the form of Adrien, staring down at the real Adrien on the floor, asleep.

She smirks. "Oops. I lied."

She pushes Adrien into a locker and shuts it, walking out.

Plagg hurriedly flies out of Adrien's jacket. "Adrien? ADRIEN!" He yells, frantically trying to wake him up.

I jump out of the air vent, eyes scanning the school, searching for the akuma. My eyes narrow as I see Adrien walking out of the locker room.

"Nino! I have something to tell ya! You don't deserve my friendship, or your girlfriend," he taunts. He grabs Nino's hat off the top of his head. "Or your cap!"

"Hey!" Alya shouts, as everyone herds around Adrien to see what's happening.

"Ha! You should see your faces! Don't miss my performance at the Eiffel Tower!" He jumps off the rail, landing on the basketball court below. "You're gonna love it." And he jumps out of the school.

"What?! That's not Adrien!" I say out loud, following the imposter. The imposter jumps from rooftop to rooftop, looking back as he goes. What could have caused his or her anger?

He jumps in front of a bus, forcing it to turn. The driver freaks out as he sees a woman pushing a stroller in front. "Oh no!" He screams.

I quickly grab the woman and push her out of the way of the bus, and stopping the bus with my yoyo in a net.

"THank you Ladybug!" The driver says, but I don't have time for that.

The imposter hops around, and pops a little kid's balloon with my face on it. Rude!

He pops _all_ the balloons with my face on it. That's weird. Whoever he is, he must have some kind of thing against me. But what did I do?

He grabs two Cat Noir balloons and jumps to a gap in the Eiffel Tower as he walks around, almost falling a few times.

I hop onto where he is. "Adrien, stop!"

"Ahhh! I'm losing my balance! I'm gonna fall!" Right on cue, he jumps off the Eiffel tower, and I quickly catch him, landing on ground.

"My Princess Charming!" He coos. "You saved my life! Mua!" he says, trying to kiss me. I push him away in disgust, doing a backflip. "YOU ARE NOT ADRIEN!"

The imposter looks up. "You're right! I'm Chameleon! You get better at this Ladybug. Which is a good thing. It'll only make this fight all the more interesting!" Chameleon throws a punch at me, but I dodge, kicking him in turn.

It's a quick battle, me kicking him and trying to find where his akuma is, while he tries to kiss me in turn. I would love that, if it were the real Adrien. But I would hate it if it were _not_ the real Adrien.

Finally, I manage to grab him and throw him on the ground. "I know where your akuma is, Chameleon!" I grab Nino's cap. "Time to de-evilize- Wait, what, but, the akuma?" I say in confusion as no purple evil butterfly flies out. I silently curse myself. Of course the akuma wasn't in here! It's _Nino_ 's cap! I watched Chameleon take it from Nino! Ugh, I'm so lame!

I look back down at Chameleon, but he was nowhere to be found. Ugh!

"If this is an enchanted sleep, what could possibly wake him up?" Plagg wonders aloud, desperately flying around Adrien, while Adrien snored softly.

Then Plagg's eyes widen. "Oh no. Not an enchanted kiss! Please!"

 _More snoring._

Plagg sighs. "Nobody'll ever know. Muaaaa-" Plagg slowly leans in, ready to kiss Adrien.

Suddenly, Adrien's eyes open just before Plagg gets there. "Plagg? What happened? And _What are you doing?_ "

Plagg flies backwards. "Oh, I, uh, nothing, I uh, your friend Lila put you to sleep with an evil kiss. You should be more careful picking your friends!"

"Lila must have been re-akumatized!" Adrien concludes. "Quick! Plagg, claws out!"

THere's a flash of green light, and Cat Noir jumps out of the locker that Adrien was in, and quickly runs out to find Ladybug.

I look from building to building, trying to find any suspicious activity going around.

"Quinton!" A lady shouts, searching for her son. "Quinton!"

I jump onto a lamppost, looking around the park. Time for some Ladybug parkour.

"Ladybug!" A little boy says to me. He points at the carousel. "I saw the supervillain running away!"

"Thanks, don't stay here, okay? It's dangerous!" I jump off the lampost, in front of the carousel. "Come out of there, Chameleon!"

Little did I know at that time that the real little boy was asleep inside the carousel in reality.

"My Quinton! You found him, Ladybug!" The lady shouts in joy.

"Found him?" I look backwards, just in time to see Chameleon pounce. My eyes widen as he gets nearer, and my brain forgets to run.

"Ladybug, look out!"

Cat Noir jumps in front of Ladybug just in time, and Chameleon lands a kiss on his cheek. Immediately Chameleon transforms into Cat Noir, and they both tumble downhill.

Chameleon gets up, and tries to grab Cat Noir's miraculous, but I quickly regain my senses and shoots my yoyo at him. Chameleon glares at me. "It's down to the two of us, Ladybug! Cataclysm!"

No! He has Cat Noir's powers too. I'm going to have to fight my partner in heroism. Well, a replica of my partner in heroism.

"I'm going to find out who you _really_ are, Chameleon!" I yell.

"I'll find out who you are first, don't you worry!" Chameleon lunges at me, and I jump out of the way of his destructive hand.

"Too bad Cat Noir's powers are going to destroy you!" Chameleon desperately tries to land a kiss on me, while his hand keeps punching. He has the advantage.

He knocks me on the ground, but I kick him off.

"If you manage to touch me!" I yell as I swing from my yoyo to the Eiffel Tower.

Looking behind me, I see Chameleon following close behind.

When we reach the top of the Eiffel Tower, Chameleon smirks down at me. "Nowhere to run now, Ladybug."

"I don't intend to!" I say back, returning his smirk. "Lucky Charm!" I throw my yoyo into the air, and red swirls around it. I receive a T-shirt.

Chameleon laughs out loud. "That's your plan to defeat me, Ladybug? Make me dress like you? On second thought, such horrible fashion might actually do me in!" Chameleon lunges at me, and I tie the shirt around my arm for later use.

I wrap my yoyo around his stick, and break it apart, but still no purple evil butterfly flies out. "Failed again!" Chameleon mocks.

We launch into a deadly dance, throwing punches and kicks here and there. Eventually, he kicks me backwards as he pounces on me.

"Cataclysm!" He shouts as he lands. His lips try to touch mine as his hand leans forward to destroy me. I hold back both, but I won't be able to do it for long.

A purple sign of a butterfly flashes on Chameleon's head. "Good job, Chameleon!" I hear Hawkmoth's distinct voice praise. "Become Ladybug! Then once you put her to sleep, you can simply _give_ me her miraculous!"

I will not let that happen.

I look down as I struggle to keep Chameleon at bay. I see the waitress. A clam thing. And an oyster. Bingo.

I grab Chameleon's wrist and force his hand onto the Eiffel tower top. The metal turns to rust as we fall, and the waitress ducks down to secure her safety.

When we land, my eyes desperately scan around for an oyster. I grin as I grab it and close my eyes, pretending to still be overcoming the impact of the fall.

Chameleon rises, and seeing me so vulnerable, swoops down to give me a kiss, but I press the oyster to his lips first.

Chameleon steps back, as the oyster falls into his hands, and his eyes widen with dread when he realizes that he's shrinking into the size of the oyster. Muffled cries and sobs were heard as I hold the oyster to my ear.

"We should be friends, not enemies!" I tease to the oyster.

The real Cat Noir appears behind me, his stick hanging on his shoulders. "Wow, you certainly got that supervillain to clam up, milady. But we're still not out of the woods yet. Where's the akumatized object?"

"I think I may have an idea," I respond. "Waiter?"

The waitress hops back up, clearing her throat.

"If you wouldn't mind?" I hold up the clam thing, the t-shirt, and the oyster to her.

"Yes Ladybug. At your service." She starts to de-clam the thing. I don't actually know what it's called, but I've only seen it one other time when a waiter was doing that for us at a restaurant.

When she was done, she handed us the akumatized object; an earing. "Mademoiselle?"

"Thank you!" I respond, taking it. "We're about to find out what you _really_ look like, Chameleon!"

"You'll see," Cat Noir smirks. "It's an old acquaintance."

I break the earing, and the akuma flies out.

"No more evil-doing for you, little akuma," I say as I slide open my yoyo. "Time to de-evilize!" My yoyo catches the akuma before it flies away, and I swing it back to me. "Gotcha!"

I let the akuma go, now once again a harmless butterfly. "Bye bye little butterfly! Miraculous Ladybug!" I yell as I throw the t-shirt into the air.

It disappears, as magical tiny ladybugs fly around Paris, returning everything to as it was before Chameleon was akumatized.

"Don't worry, you look fine without your cap!" Alya comforted Nino as he sat with his head down. When the ladybugs swept around them, Nino laughed with joy when he saw that his cap was back on his head.

The Ladybugs fix the ceiling as well, and take away the damage that we made. There's a bright pink light, and where the oyster was, there sat…

"Lila?" I gasp.

"Ladybug?" Lila asks, leaning backwards in surprise.

I laugh. "At least now you can say that I saved your life for real. Truce?"

Lila looks me up and down, as if I were kidding. Then she sighs, and her surprised face drops. "Thanks, Ladybug." She shakes my hand. "I'd be honored to call you my friend."

I laugh nervously. "Yeah, I'm happy to hear that. Just some advice? You don't have to lie and pretend to be something you're not. People will like you just for being yourself."

"You have my word, Ladybug!" Lila responds, smiling sweetly. I almost forgive her.

"Bug out!" I say as Cat Noir and I run away.

"Bye!" Lila responds, waving. When Ladybug's out of sight, her smile drops back into a scowl and a look of revenge.

"I sense a talent like no other in this young Lila. I'm sure her feelings about Ladybug will serve my purpose well in the end. One way or another." Hawkmoth laughs evilly as the window to Paris closes.

"Of course Ladybug saved my life! She never misses an opportunity to save her best friend!" I grind my teeth as I hear Lila spread more of her lies. She promised me that she wasn't going to lie anymore. What happened?

"Didn't your tinnitus give you vertigo when you went up the Eiffel Tower?" Max asked. I grin mischievously. Exposed, Lila!

"Oh, no! Ladybug knows me so well, she brought me an earplug to stick in my right ear!" I growl as I hear her say that. "Right ear? Did she say, _right ear?_ This morning she said that the ringing was in her _left_ ear! I've got her this time!" I stand up and walk slowly and angrily towards the bench where Lila was sitting at.

"Are you going to tell everyone?"

I'm surprised to see Adrien watching as well from the side of the staircase.

"Of course I am! Lila's a-"

"Liar. Yes I know. But do you really think exposing her will make things better?" Adrien turns to me, sincerity in his beautiful green eyes. Green cat eyes…

He continues before I get the chance to finish my thoughts. "If you humiliate her, she'll just be hurt more! Making a bad guy suffer has never turned them into a good guy." I sigh as we both look back to where Lila was sitting on the bench with everyone else crowding around her like fans adoring a celebrity.

"Ladybug and I are like two peas in a pod," she said, smiling sweetly.

"So we just stand by and let her lie?" I ask in disbelief.

Adrien turns back to me. "As long as you and I both know the truth, does it really matter?" Me and Adrien, in this together. For the first time, we're the only ones alone in this world against a common evil. I smile at him. "You're right. Maybe it's not such a big deal." The bell rings, and we all head back to our classroom.

"Good afternoon, everyone!" Miss Bustier says as we all enter the classroom. "Good afternoon, miss bustier!" we respond, like normal school kids on a normal school day.

Lila sits down triumphantly in the front row as I walk in, and she sneers at me subtly so that I can see it but no one else can. I just make my face into a look of pity and walk past her, waving at Alya and Nino as I pass them as well.

Taking my seat in the back row, I look out the window. If Adrien also knows that Lila's a liar, then that means that he won't fall for her or her lies. That means that I actually have a chance with him, since Chloe's completely out of the picture now. Thinking about, where even is Chlo-

"Good for you for taking the high road, Marinette!" I'm surprised as Adrien pulls up into a seat next to me, smiling at me. But unlike Lila, Adrien's smile is pure and genuine. Just like everything about him. He laughs. "Hey, it's pretty cool back here." And I don't even bother to hide the look of admiration as I look up at him.

Lila glares at us with disbelief and envy as Miss Bustier takes attendance. "Lila?" "Here!"

"Adrien?" "Present!"

"Max?" "Present!"

 _Stay focused now, Marinette!_ I say to myself strictly. _Don't get distracted. Otherwise you'll fail school, and how are you and Adrien gonna get that house, and have three kids, and a hamster called-_

"Marinette!" I snap out of my daydreams as Adrien shouts my name urgently. "Miss Bustier's called your name three times already!"

"Oh. Hehe!" I smile awkwardly to Miss Bustier up front. She smiles back. "Looks like you have trouble hearing after all, Marinette! Why don't you come sit up here in the front row next to Lila?"

Lila and I gasp at the same time. I sigh miserably as I take my stuff and mentally wave goodbye to Adrien as I walk down to the first row.

Lila glares at me. Then her eyes lit up. "Miss Bustier! This is incredible! My tenitus! I don't feel it anymore! It's gone! It's a miracle. It must be Ladybug's doing. I can sit in the back now!" She takes her lunchbox and walks back to where Adrien was, scooting close to him as he sighs.

Alya raises her hand. "Uh excuse me Miss Bustier? Can I go and sit in the front with Marinette? Nino and I can't stop chatting it up."

Miss Bustier nodded her approval as Alya winked at Nino and moved up next to me. "You didn't think I'd let my BFF sit all by herself, did you?" I grin at her.

"Excuse me Miss Bustier?" Adrien raises his hand. "Can I go sit next to Nino please?"

When Miss Bustier nods, Adrien apologizes to Lila. "Sorry Lila, he's my best friend!"

"Can I have my old seat back too please?" Ivan asks, as a flurry of requests to get back to what it was before started. Miss Bustier, being the awesome teacher that she is, allowed all of them. It was like it was before, except with Lila sitting by herself in the back of the classroom, pouting and looking at me angrily.

"Catch you later, Marinette!" Nino and Alya wave at me as they go off on their date to the

Zoo. I turn around to walk home when I bump into Lila, already waiting for me.

"I see you've made your decision, Marinette!" Lila says sweetly, but her smile doesn't reach her eyes. She leaned in to whisper in my ear.

"From now on, you and I are at war. You will lose your friends and wind up all alone, and Adrien will soon be mine." She pulls away, smirking triumphantly, like she already one the war that she proclaimed.

I just smile in return, patting her shoulder. One thing I've learned about bullies for how long I've lived is that they're only powerful when their victims are afraid of them. At least, Chloe is. "We'll see, Lila," I say, smirking. "We'll see."

I walk past her to my home, smiling happily.

No matter how mean she wants to be, no matter how many lies she wants to spread, I know that I've already won the battle that she's proclaimed. And I know that because Adrien knows that she's a liar. Adrien and I are on the same side.

And for once, I return home and finish my work without stress.


	8. Chapter 8

**Hi guys! I'm so sorry for not updating in so long! Chapter 9 will come soon, I promise! And thank you SO MUCH to those beloved followers and favorite-rs and commenters! You are the best!**

"Chloe, you know that I can't just _ban_ people from Paris! Didn't your mother and I have the same conversation just a little while ago?"

I roll my eyes indignantly. "When you got akumatized into some ugly creature thing and when I had to jump in and save you with Ladybug? Yeah, of course I remember. But Lila's ten times _worse_ than Marinette DuPain Cheng."

"That Lila Rossi is a _liar!"_ my mother pounds on my father's desk, making him scramble backwards, hiding behind the desk.

"Audrey dear, I can talk to the principal about her lies-"

"She keeps lying to get Adrikins' attention!" I say, diving into a dramatic pose. "She's going to make everyone hate me! Banish her from Paris at the least! At the most, banish her from this stupid world!"

"Chloe, hun, I will see what I can do, alright? But you can't refuse to go to school! Hmm, Ah! Adrikins will never fall in love with an uneducated girl, would he?"

"Argggg!" I facepalm and my mother backs me up. "Adrien Agreste? Of course he will! Ugh, Chlorine- Chloe, let's go back to our room to calm down and plot how to get rid of that _cockroach_ Lila Rossi."

I laugh loudly. "Lie-la Rossi!" I take my mother's hand and together we saunter out, leaving my father to scramble after us.

No kidding, though. I may not be able to read properly, but I can tell a bad egg from a good one. Adrien sure is gorgeous, and like, perfect in every way, just like me! We were practically _made_ for each other. Why else would Fate let his father and my mother become such good friends?

But I'll have to admit that I didn't really think too deeply about my relationship with Adrien. He's been my best friend for a long time; even though Sabrina does pretty much everything for me. Adrien really _understands_ me. And in secret, I told him about my dyslexia too. After that, he was a lot more sympathetic around, me, which I didn't like, despite how awesome he is. I felt like screaming; _I don't want your sympathy!_

I talked to him later about it. And he immediately understood, and just treated me like a normal girl. But I think that my disability is actually one of the reasons he stays one of my best friends. He doesn't show it; but he still feels bad for me.

I didn't realize my deep feelings for him until Lila came along and tried to buy his heart through her lies. If I know Adrien at all, I'd know that he's too innocent to know that she lies. When she first came, I knew that there was something wrong with her. There's no possible way that she knew all these famous people who served her like they were her slaves. Besides, if she did, then she would obviously be all over the news by now. Which she's _not._

Unfortunately, I seem to be the only one who notices Lila's lies. I mean seriously, people are literally _blind_ these days. Do they even have brains? I doubt it.

Ugh, okay fine. I _did_ notice that Marinette loser scowling at her in class too. But there's no way I'm working with _her_ even if it's against a common enemy. What'll we do when we get rid of her? Do we get rid of each other? Do we become… _friends?!_ Even thinking about that makes me want to gag.

Well, at least I know that I'm great, and at least I've actually _met_ Prince Ali, and at least Ladybug has actually saved my life _twice,_ and at least… the list could go on _forever_. All the other dopes in my school are just too dumb to see it.

My phone buzzes, but I instinctively still hesitate to slide it open. Since the incident when Lady Wifi jumped out of my phone and froze me, then exposed me and embarrassed me in front of the entire world, I grew more self-aware.

I groaned and rolled my eyes when I saw Marinette's name pop up on my screen, but reluctantly read her message. It's not like I have any other thing to do anyway.

 _Chloe, I need your help!_ She texted. I scoffed.

 _Like I would ever help a loser like you,_ I responded, grinning evilly as I sent the message.

 _I know you would, Chloe._ Yeah right, like she knows anything about moi.

 _Chloe, we both need your help,_ a new name pops up. A name that I'm utterly excited to see.

 _ADRIKINS!_ I spam exclamation marks in the chat. Adrien's in this too? Well, if he and Marinette are working together, then… I guess I could bear with her even if it is the rest of the year. Adrikins will keep her away from me, I know he will.

 _Hey Chloe. Let's meet in the park, shall we?_

 _YES YES YES YES YES_ Marinette spammed.

I sigh as I click off my phone and snap, Jon Lupatskin appearing at my side immediately. "Jon Pascal, get the car ready. I'm going to the park to meet Adrien and that _loser_ Marinette DuPain Cheng."

"Of course, Mademoiselle," he says, bowing quickly, before going out the door. I twirl my hair once, smile at the mirror, taking in my full beauty, and then leave, chin high.

Getting into the car, I text Adrien and Marinette on the group chat. _Okay okay, I'm coming! Why am I hanging out with a loser like you, Marinette DuPain Cheng?_ I smirk as I press the 'send' button.

 _That's not nice Chloe. Marinette and I are already waiting for you in the park._ Adrien texts, sending a frowny face emoji after that. I scoff.

When we get to the park, which really isn't that far away, I toss my hair and leave Mr. Cuddly in the car while Jon Luke drives the car back to the hotel. I walk sassily down to where Adrien was waving at me, and Marinette was looking down at her shoes. Humph. Only a _loser_ would do that.

I tackle Adrien back onto the bench where Marinette was sitting at when he stood up to greet me. "Adrikins! Mua, mua!" I French kiss him as I sit down in next to Adrien, letting him be the barrier between me and that Marinette loser. "So, what is this stupid meeting about? And what the heck is _she_ doing here?" I jerk my thumb towards Marinette, who sighs and rolls her eyes.

"It's about Lila," she starts, and I immediately stand and point at her accusingly. "Aha! I knew it! Adrien's dating Lila, isn't he? Adrikins, do you have anything to tell your Chloekins?!" I poke my face in his, glaring at him as hard as I could.

"No no, I'm not dating Lila, Chloe!" He pushes my face away. "It's just… Marinette knows that Lila's a liar. And so do I. And I know that you, being the amazing person you are, would agree with us."

I smirk proudly, tossing my ponytail. "Well, I am an amazing person… of course I agree with you! That Lila girl shouldn't exist! I can't believe Max hasn't even figured out what a liar she is! Isn't he the nerd in our school?"

"Chloe, that's not the point!" Marinette stands up angrily. "Lila knows that i know that she's a liar, so right now she's plotting against me. I need a team of my own friends to back me up. And although we aren't really friends…" she takes a deep breath. "Whatever. Anyway, the point is I need support from a _real heroine,_ like yourself. When Lila got akumatized, she was Volpina, a fake heroine. But I need Queen Bee to help me; YOU."

Huh. Even a loser knows sweet talk.

"Yeah yeah, okay fine. I'll help you, but only because Lila's an even bigger of a loser than you are, DuPain Cheng."

Although I just insulted her, she still cracks a smile. What a loser.

"So, what do you even want help with?" I ask, taking out my phone and checking my texts, showing that I am bored. According to mother, that's the trick to get the amount of respect you want from ungrateful low lives. Show how uninterested you are. They'll try to interest you.

"Lila… she has a crush on me," Adrien begins. I snort and laugh. "Knowing you, Adrikins, you two don't stand a chance." I lean close to him, batting my eyelashes, and waiting for Marinette to grow jealous and know that she can't harm me. Instead, she just smiles. Ugh, the idiot.

Adrien pulls away. "Chloe, I have no intention of dating Lila."

I hear Marinette heave a sigh of relief, but Adrien shows no sign of hearing her. Well, Adrikins is too oblivious for his own good.

"But Lila knows that I know that she's a liar," Marinette continued. "And she's going to try to ruin my reputation now. She's like a supervillain who doesn't even need a costume."

I smile. This is my chance.

"Well, when there's a supervillain, there's always a superhero to save the day!" I toss my hair. "Time to scheme, new colleagues."

"Oh, hi there! You must be the new girl from New York!" Volpina walks up to me and shakes my hand.

"Volpina, is it?" I respond, smiling sweetly.

"Lila, actually. The terrible Hawkmoth took advantage of my negative emotions and used it against me. But sooner or later, I'm sure my good friends Ladybug and Cat Noir will defeat him soon enough!" her green, innocent eyes look bright and alight, but I can hear the lie through her innocent voice.

"Oh, that's great!" Lunar flies out of my jacket, and I see Lila sneer at her for a moment, then cover it up with a wide smile. "A kwami! My own kwami _loves_ other kwamis. My boyfriend Adrien Agreste and I often soar through the city. He doesn't like to admit that he's my boyrfriend, though I really don't know why. We'd love to have you tag along! Meeting a new superheroine is _so_ thrilling."

I smile nervously. "Oh, yeah, that's cool."

"Yeah. Lemme tell you some secrets; everyone in this school are really close friends with me. Except for Marinette. She says that I lie with every breath. She's so mean!" she sighs. "Let's hang out at lunch together! I'll tell you _everything_ you need to know. And who knows, Ladybug might actually be as good of friends with you as I am with her!"

"Cassidy!" Chloe runs up and gives me a hug, and two French kisses on both sides of my cheeks. I smile as Lila scowls.

"Hi Chloe!"

"You wanna sit with me, Adrikins, and… _MARINETTE DUPAIN CHENG?"_ She says, as if forcing the name out. I laugh.

"Sure." I wave goodbye innocently to Lila, who growled at Chloe and allowed Chloe to lead me away to my classroom, where I sat in the front with her and Sabrina. I almost laugh when Lila walks to the back of the class, eyeing Marinette, Alya, and Nino with jealousy.

"As a few of you already know, we have a new friend here from New York, who will be going to school with us for a month! Chloe, care to introduce her?"

Chloe stands up, dragging me up with her. "This is Cassidy Nightingale! She's a _real_ superheroine. Unlike that stupid copycat, what was her name? Volleyball Peanut? No. Volpina, right? Oh, whatever."

I don't need to look to sense that Lila's glowering in Chloe's direction. Chloe just smirks and continues. "Cassidy saves New York _all_ the time!"

"Wow! It's a pleasure to have a real superheroine in our class, Cassidy! And I feel honored teaching you!" Ms. Bustie claps, and everyone else does as well as I smile shyly.

"What's it like in New York?" Alya asks, taking out her phone and video taping me. I just laugh. "It's really cool there. The city's very crowded and loud, though. I have a few superhero buddies that I fight crime with. THey've gone to take a tour of the other schools here in Paris, but you'll get to meet them soon enough. THey're really friendly, I promise."

Alya put down her phone, grinning, and nods in thanks. I don't have to look at Lila to know that she's furious with me.

"Oh! You have other superheroes in New York? That's like in Paris! We have Ladybug, who, as you already know, is my close friend, and Chat Noir, he and I are close friends too, and Rena Rouge, although her real name was Volpina until she decided to change it, and Carapace, who's super awesome too."

"Uh, you forgot _me!"_ Chloe stands up, glaring at Lila. "Queen Bee is actually one of Ladybug's closest friends! That's why I know that Cassidy and I will get along; because we're _real_ superheroines, and we aren't going to hide that!"

I laugh. Lila scowls.

At lunch, Chloe, Sabrina, Adrien and I sit together, while Lila glares at us jealously. That reminds me.

"Hey Adrien, are you Lila's boyfriend?"

He looks taken aback. "No! Of course not. Why would you say that?" then he sighs. "She told you that, didn't she?" I nod in response.

He sighs again, while Chloe grins triumphantly. "I always knew she was the liar! And now we'll have to invite that DuPain Cheng loser over and of course her best friend Cesaire and Cesaire's boyfriend Nino Laheive." Chloe waves over at where Marinette, Alya and Nino were sitting. "Get over here, losers! We have something to tell you."

Marinette sighs, Alya facepalms, and NIno glares at Chloe, but they all come over to our table.

"We just got proof that Lila here is a liar!" Chloe said, lowering her voice and pounding her fist on the table. "She told Cassidy here that Adrikins was her boyfriend! How dare she? Adrikins is too innocent to be her boyfriend!"

She wraps Adrien in a hug, as Lila glares at us jealously.

Alya, Nino and Sabrina are bewildered. "There's no way that Lila's a liar! She's so nice to everyone. No liar would be like that!" Alya argued. "Besides, we can't prove that she doesn't know Ladybug."

I feel Marinette tense up next to me.

"But we can prove that Adrien's not her boyfriend!" Chloe argues back. Alya and Chloe have an epic facedown while the rest of us burst out laughing.

The bell rings and we head back to class.

On my way there, a hand on my shoulder stops me, and I look back to see Lila's green eyes boring into mine. Creepy.

"Cassidy! You said that you'd sit with me at lunch today!" She said, frowning.

"Sorry, your table was too crowded because of your sprained wrist."

Lila nodded. "Sorry about that. What about tomorrow?"

"Maybe…" I pry Lila's hand off mine. She has a steel grip. Then, when walking into the classroom, I take out a bouncy ball, and hand it to Lila. "A New Yorker's gift!" I smile sweetly as I sit next to Chloe and Sabrina.

"Good job," Chloe says to me sarcastically. "You're making friends with the liar?"

"Of course not." I just reply.

Lila bounces the ball on the floor, her wrist moving in the action. She does it a few more times on her way to the seat in the back, saying "thank you" to me on the way by.

"Wait! If Lila is using her wrist so freely, that means that she _can't_ have sprained it!" Sabrina jumps up and points. "Marinette was right! She really _doesn't_ have a sprained wrist!" Chloe rolls her eyes. "For once you say the right thing!"

The whole class gasps, including Miss Bustier. "Lila, is this true?"

"No no! Of course not! I…" Lila growls and stomps her foot on the ground. She storms out of the classroom, crying. "I HATE SUPERHEROES!" I hear her scream down the hallway. And according to what I know about Paris and it's major supervillain, Hawkmoth, I know that things won't end up good.


	9. Chapter 9

**Hello everyone, and I'm so sorry that I haven't updated in so long! Here it is! Enjoy! And don't forget to comment and follow me! ;) Ah I sound like a youtuber now. I've been watching too much** Hermitcraft.

 **Chapter Nine:**

"Natalie!" Gabriel roars from his office. Natalie runs inside immediately, terrified. What did she do wrong this time?

Gabriel was fuming. "Marinette DuPain Cheng? The one who won the fashion contest? The daughter of the best baker in town?"

"Y-yes sir," Natalie stuttered.

"WHAT DO YOU THINK OF ME?!" Gabriel roared. "You really think I'm _that_ cruel?"

"I - I don't understand, sir," Natalie stuttered. "How does Marinette differ from all other akumatized victims?"

"Well, for one, I've actually _met_ the poor sweet girl!" Gabriel yelled. Adrien rushed out of his room. "Father, what's wrong?"

"Go practice piano Adrien!" he shouted. Adrien, with a hurt expression, reluctantly shut the door of his room.

Gabriel turned back to Natalie. "That girl, for your information, is my son's girlfriend!"

"Ex-girlfriend," Natalie mumbled. "Kinda."

"I wouldn't want to hurt my son like that!"

"Technically sir-"

"AN EXPLANATION?" Gabriel roared.

"I-I just thought that, uh, she… she looked a bit like Ladybug, sir." Natalie stuttered out.

Gabriel was startled quiet at that. Ladybug? In his grasp? With Ladybug's miraculous, taking Cat Noir's miraculous would be childplay. But was it possible? The shy, quiet lover of Adrien? Gabriel straightened. "Yes of course. I'll investigate further."

Natalie bowed her head. "I meant no offense or harm to you, or Adrien, sir."

Gabriel nods. "I understand. Well done, Natalie."

 _She looked a bit like Ladybug, sir._

The words replayed in my brain as I slid down the metal door of my room. Finishing eavesdropping on Father and Natalie, I walk over to my computer, and open a tab to Alya's Ladyblog.

"And I should know, because I have the exact same book!" Alya's clear voice said through the tape.

"You honestly think that _Marinette_ could be Ladybug?" Plagg asks, tossing a slice of camembert into his mouth and swallowing it whole. "I mean, she seems like the opposite of your crush, boy."

"But… they do look alike, don't they?" I can't help but ask. "And… it's worth investigating, isn't it?"

"NO, it's not," Plagg yells, immediately flying in front of me with a very sinister look. "Ladybug keeps her identity secret for a reason. What if you knew it and Hawkmoth got you in his grasp? Then Ladybug would be in danger!"

"I know, but I can't help but dream…" I say, looking past Plagg to my background picture in my computer. My mother's eyes stare back at me, smiling, with little Adrien under her arm. Those eyes remind me of myself- and of Ladybug. I have her green, Ladybug has her blue.

If only I knew where Mother is now- is she under the sea, slowly sinking? Is she in heaven, looking down at me? Or is she somewhere in this city, searching for me?

" _Adrien?"_ I jump when my phone rings. It's an unknown number. Uh… j

" _Hey, who is this?"_ I text back, hoping that the person isn't a hacker, or worse, _Lila._ I await the person's speech bubble as they type, and I sigh in relief when the next message pops up.

" _Hi! It's Cassidy!"_

Phew. " _Hey, how's life? Do you like Paris so far?"_

" _Lol yeah! It's great. Didya see how I exposed Lila back there?"_

I can't help but grin. Cassidy's pretty sly.

" _Yeah, that was cool. But currently she's coming up with another lie to cover that exposition. Leave it up to her to lie."_ I sigh. I'm really not that surprised that Lila fell in love with me on the spot, but she's gone too far. I could never love her now.

" _No worries, me and my pals aren't any strangers to liars. Hey, wanna meet in the park and I can show you the rest of the gang?"_

New York superheroes? Sweet. I grin as I accept.

"BRUH! BrInG MaRinEtTe!" Plagg urges, peeking over my shoulder.

"Why? Didn't you say that she's not Ladybug?" I tease.

"Yeah," Plagg says after some hesitation, "But-"

I bolt upright in my seat right after Cassidy and I scheduled the time; 5:30 PM. In half an hour. "That's it! It's a meeting of superheroes! I should go as Cat Noir, and I can invite Ladybug!"

Plagg rolls his eyes and eats another slice of cheese. "Yeah yeah, whatever, boi. But I'm going to eat up. And if you want to show off to the world that you're Cat." I pinch my nose as I walk by him and sit down on the couch, continuing to text Cassidy. But Plagg does have a point. I can't tell her who I really am.

" _Hey, why don't you and your little Lady come as superheroes?"_ Cassidy texts. I gasp. How does she know? Was I really that open? Was putting on my joker Cat Noir mask not enough? I'm suddenly very aware of my appearance.

" _What'dya mean?"_ I text back, glad that we're not face to face.

" _You know what I mean, Kitty. Darkness sees all. I mean, are you guys really that blind? Well, Cat Noir, see you at 5:30. I have a music lesson."_ I shut off my phone, and run my hand through my hair, thinking.

"Well, Cassidy sure is smart, isn't she?" Plagg commented, tossing another slice of camembert in his mouth. "Well, have fun with your new girlfriend." He flies off to the bathroom, cackling gleefully. I stick out my tongue after him.

I doubt that Cassidy likes me that way. And even if she did, my love for Ladybug would win over my love for her. Probably. Hopefully. Besides, Cassidy promised to help me gain Ladybug's love. I can't possibly fall in love with Cass…

"Adrien?"

Plagg zooms into a drawer in my desk as Natalie opens the door, her face expressionless as usual. "Natalie?" I ask, straightening up.

"What were you doing?" Natalie asks, scrolling through her tablet. "You don't want me to inform your father that you were wasting time, do you? I have your piano lesson booked at 7:30 PM tonight, and your Chinese lesson will be in ten minutes."

Ten minutes?! But I have to go down and meet Cassidy! I won't be able to do it at the same time. "Uh, Natalie, I promised a friend that I would meet them at 5:30-"

"That's what your father instructed of you, and it's your duty to follow his orders, Adrien," she says without flinching. "Your Chinese lessons are far more important than meeting up with your friend, which you can do any other day. You probably see them at school every day, anyways. That's how your schedule goes. Pack your homework. The car is already waiting in the doorway for you." She leaves without looking back.

"She always reminded me of a robot," Plagg remarks as he flies back out of the drawer, and I flop down on my couch.

"Why this sudden change in schedule? Doesn't Natalie always tell me what I have in the morning?" I whine, reluctantly putting my completed Chinese homework in my folder.

Plagg shrugs, just tossing another piece of camembert in his mouth. "How am I supposed to know? If anything, just talk it out with your father."

I sigh as I get into the car. As I look out the window in boredom, I think I catch a glimpse of Cassidy and her superhero friends darting from house to house, ready to meet at the park.

I check my phone when I arrive at the Chinese classroom. _5:20 PM._ Ten more minutes, and Cassidy will be waiting there for me and Ladybug to show up. And neither of us will.

"Hello, Adrien," A voice says, and I look down to see a short, old man. My eyes widen as I realize who this is.

"Oh, hello," I reply awkwardly.

"I am going to be Adrien's substitute for the day," Master Fu explains to Natalie, and Natalie barely nods before my driver drives her back to the Agreste Mansion.

"Why hello, Cat Noir," Master Fu says, smiling up at me. "What a pleasure to see you again. How are you liking being a superhero?"

"Yeah, it's great," I answer awkwardly. "Is there anything urgent that you need to tell me?"

Master Fu shrugs. "Why would there be anything urgent for me to talk to you? How do you like the new superhero friends from New York?"

"I've actually only met one," I admit. "Cassidy Nightingale. But she has buddies, and we were planning to meet in the park this afternoon, but my dad scheduled this class. How did you get rid of my teacher?"

Master Fu laughs. "No, for once he was actually sick," Master Fu replies, winking at me. "Why don't you go meet your superhero friends now?"

My eyes widen. "Really?"

"Of course. It's important that you form strong alliances with them. Who knows, they might be our secret to defeating Hawkmoth!" Master Fu takes out a sheet of paper. "However, this is your Chinese homework. Just in case your father wants to know what you've learned in class today."

I sigh. "I doubt that he'll ask. He never cares about my life. But thank you, sir."

Master Fu puts a hand on my arm, unable to reach my shoulder. "Your father cares about your life more than you realize, my friend," he says. "Loss has brought pressure to him. But soon, his love will shine through."

"I just hope it does," I reply, ducking into a dark alley to transform.

 _Ding._

Oh, great job, Cat Noir, texting me at this time of the day. It's winter, for heaven's sake! It's dark outside already! Ugh!

I'm glad that when I'm Marinette, my phone saves him in my contacts as "Annoying Guy", so no one can even guess that it's Cat Noir.

" _M'lady, a superheroine friend of mine from New York just invited me and you to the park. Care to join me?"_

Cassidy knows Cat Noir?! Could I possibly know Cat Noir in real life? Oh, it might not even be Cassidy who invited him, for all I know, it could be one of her New Yorker buddies.

It was awesome how Cassidy totally wrecked Lila the other day. Kill 'em with kindness indeed. She's a superheroine through and through. Who knows, maybe Cat Noir might even fall in love with her instead of me. Then he won't get in the way of me and Adrien. If that'll ever happen.

I sigh as I respond. " _Sure, I don't see why not. Just don't embarrass me too much, okay Kitty?"_

" _Of course, anything for you ;)"_ Okay good.

"Tikki, Spots on!"

And soon, Marinette isn't standing in her room anymore. Now, I'm the almighty Ladybug. Jumping onto my deck, I naturally gaze over at the Eiffel Tower, with lights decorating it, illuminating it against the dark night sky. Cassidy sure chose a nice time of the day.

I heave as I latch my yoyo onto the stone statue of another building, swinging my way across to get to the park. People take pictures of me as I pass, and I'm pretty sure that I get a glimpse of Nadia Chmock amongst them.

It's not long before I notice Cat Noir not far ahead of me, spinning with his baton. He seems more eager than usual to meet these people. I smirk as I jump in next to him.

"Well, hey m'lady," Cat says, grinning at me as we jump over a chimney together.

"So, who exactly invited you over to the park? A date, I assume?" I tease, doing a flip in midair and landing in the park. Cassidy and her superhero friends are already there, although they're not very… superhero. Well, that is that they're not in their suits.

Of course, I recognize Cassidy immediately, with her sleek black hair and her startling silver eyes, and her simply beautiful outlook. Next to her, there's a boy with short brown hair, wearing a gray sweater, and had some freckles along the bridge of his nose. His gray compliments his gray, stormy eyes. He runs a hand through his hair, and occasionally shot a glance towards Cassidy. I blush as I see him. Oh no. It's happening.

"Hey!" Cassidy runs up to us, with the boy right next to her.

"Hi Cass. Who's your friend?" I ask, nodding towards the boy, who runs a hand through his hair again. He barely regards me with a cold look.

"Oh, this is Avery," Cassidy says. "He's my best friend. We've known each other since we were in elementary school." Avery nods at me and Cat Noir, but when his eyes land on Cat, he moves a little closer to Cassidy. Cat puts his hands up in surrender.

"Hey." Another boy comes up from behind her, with blond hair and green eyes. Those traits sure resemble Adrien, but the rest of him, his face shape, his freckles, and his height didn't match Adrien's. "Hey. I'm Monee."

"HAHAHAH!" Cat collapses on the floor, writhing with laughter. "MONEY!"

"No, Monee," Monee corrects. "Like Renee except Monee."

"WHO NAMED YOU?!"

"My parents." Monee shifts uncomfortably.

"Oh my goodness, I gotta meet your parents, they are gods!" Cat recomposed himself when I shoot him a menacing look.

A shy girl comes up from behind Monee. Well, she looks shy on appearance. Her hair is blocking her eyes, and she keeps her head down, barely looking at us.

"Hi." I say awkwardly.

She then tosses her hair back, revealing sharp, blue eyes. She puts on a crazy expression, and yells; "Remus, Super Senses on!" For some reason, I imagine some superhero music playing in the background as she transforms. Her transformation is pretty similar to Chloe's, with the hair toss. THen she grows wolf ears, and a gray tail. Now she looks like a cross between Chloe and Alya.

"It's Lupa!" She announces loudly. "Well, that's my superhero name. My regular name is Felicia. You two must be the Parisian superheroes. Welcome to New York!"

"Uh, yeah, welcome to Paris…" Cat says awkwardly. Then Lupa realizes her mistake and her face reddens in embarrassment, and her friends all laugh. Even Avery cracks a grin, running his hand through his hair again.

"Your turn, Monee," Cassidy urges, and I don't miss the blush coming to her cheeks as Monee grins at her. He takes a step forward, and shouts; "Sassy, scales out!" More superhero music plays. Green scales appear on his clothes, and a long snake tail trails out from behind. What's creepiest is when he transforms, his eyes change from dark green to light. Creepy, eh?

"Sassy?" I ask, the name reminding me of Sass, our own snake kwami.

"Yeah, Sass' cousin," Monee explains. Then he clears his throat. "Now I'm Slither. Watch out, Kitty. You might be next on my menu."

Cat, instead of getting intimidated, just laughs along with Cassidy.

"Ave?" Cassidy turns to Avery, and offers an encouraging smile at him. His stone face doesn't change a bit.

Avery sighs and steps forward. "Awayz, wings out!" Stretching out his arms in a t shape, feathers grow on them, like Cassidy's, except these wings were brownish gold. A visor appeared over Avery's eyes, and a short Eagle tail appeared as well.

"EagleEye," Monee introduces Avery, since he already knows that Avery won't introduce himself. Avery shrugs and rolls his eyes, then nudges Cassidy. "C'mon."

Cassidy grins at him widely. "I don't need forcing to do it. And besides, our superhero friends here already know what I look like as superheroine. But if you insist…" She winks at Avery and I feel Cat Noir grow tense besides me, and Monee narrow his eyes.

"Lunar, Silence reigns supreme!" Cassidy yells, and she repeats her transformation routine. It doesn't differ from Avery's really; she's just a little more dramatic, a little more over the top. She and Cat would probably make a good match. Then Adrien and I can finally love each other in peace, and then get married, and have two children - no three, and buy a house, and have a hamster named-

"Okay, well now that we've got that done with," Cassidy says, "Why don't you give us a tour around, Ladybug and Cat Noir?" She tosses a long stick up into the air and catches it, and I realize that it's not a stick; it's a bow. Like, an string instrument bow. What is that doing here?

"What dat?" Cat asks, pointing at the bow.

Cassidy laughs casually. "Finally you notice it." She snaps, and a violin appears too. She places the bow on the strings, and pulls out a chord.

Whoa.

The power hits all of us tremendously, and echoes throughout the park. Everyone stops to stare at the amazing instrument. Whoa.

"Whoa." I have to say.

Nightingale, Slither and Lupa laugh, and EagleEye stands there, shifting nervously and running a hand through his hair. His eyes seem to pierce through every single one of us, like he can see through us, predicting our every move.

Maybe he can. That's actually probably his power. I wouldn't be surprised if it is.

Nightingale puts her violin away by tossing it up in the air. "Well, that's my weapon, just like your yoyo, and your stick," she explains, pointing to each of us in turn. "Of course, I don't use it a lot, usually I just use my silence full force, but the violin is fun to toy people with, don't you think?" Nightingale grins wickedly.

Slither comes up next, and flicks his wrist, a spear appearing. Cat took a step back. "Calm down, beast."

"I'm no beast," Slither growls, toying with his spear. "But I'll become one if I have to."

"Monee," Lupa chastises, bored. Slither rolls his eyes at her. Then he clears his throat, takes aim at the wall, and throws the spear.

In the blink of an eye, the spear's impaled in the wall, although they were a good 20 feet away.

"That was fast," I notice.

"Yeah, superspeed," Slither says, acting bored, but I can smell the pride in him from a mile away.

"IT'S LUPA!" Lupa shouts, and putting on some DJ glasses, she strikes a pose. Nothing happens.

"Ooh, is it the glasses?" Cat asks, curious.

"Yeeeeeeeeeeee," Lupa answers. "I don't need them, but they make me look cooler and more chill, so why not, you know? I have super senses. If I try…" she narrows her eyes, looking at the mayor's mansion, staring into the upper window. My eyes widen. No way.

"Yup, Chloe is currently drying her hair, and annoying John… whatever his name is," Lupa says, looking back at Cat. "Just as I thought. I can also hear really well, smell well, etc. I can even feel vibrations in the earth."

"WhOa," Cat says, his eyes widening. Cassidy narrows her eyes. Aww, they're so cute together…

Avery clears his throat, the one time he's actually excited to present his skills. Blinking, a bow appears in his hand, and a quiver of arrows on his back.

"Flight and attack," Avery explains. "I could kick Cupid's ass."

Cat falls down laughing again.


	10. Chapter 10

**Hello everyone! I'm back with another chapter, I hope you enjoy it! Also, I'm wondering who I should 'mayuratize' in this story, so comment some ideas that you have!**

 **Chapter 10:**

 _How dare Cat Noir and Ladybug show off in front of the New Yorkers without ME?!_

I am Chloe Bourgeois, THE Chloe Bourgeois, THE Queen Bee, THE superheroine of Paris! I deserve to show off, and to meet my new superhero colleagues! And I could even transform in front of them, since everyone already knows who I am! I'd fit in! The morons.

I'm fuming as Cassidy apologizes to me about the meeting of superheroes yesterday. "How about you and I meet up with the rest of your gang?" Cassidy offers. I roll my eyes. "Well, my good friend Ladybug here doesn't think that I'm responsible enough to actually _keep_ my miraculous, so she gave it back to the guardian dude. I mean, I am definitely responsible enough!"

"Chloe!" I hear Sabrina chortle from down the hall. I roll my eyes. "What do you want? Can't you see that Cassidy and I are having an important superhero meeting? Go bother someone else, and if it's urgent, call me back after school!"

"Your geography homework is ready," Sabrina argues, but she turns around and walks away, starting up a conversation with loser Marinette DuPain Cheng. I turn back to Cassidy. "People can be so annoying sometimes, bothering you when you don't want to be bothered."

Cassidy laughs nervously. "Well, catch you around!" she says, walking away. "I'll try to figure out a way to get you to meet my friends!" I nod and roll my eyes. That's more like it! It's about _time_ that they appreciate my hours of dedication to the well doing of Paris!

"My geography homework?" I ask, sauntering over to Sabrina and Marinette, and Sabrina instantly gives it to me. "Of course," she says, and scampers away. Marinette just turns on her heel and walks out of the locker room. At least she's smart enough to know that I don't want to be graced by her presence right now.

I open up my locker and marvel at my beautiful self in the mirror. Well, I look fab today, don't I? Who am I kidding, I look fabulous _every_ day. And even the dumbest dummies know that.

"Uh… Chloe? Can I borrow you for a second?" Adrien's looking around nervously. My eyes widen at the sight of him in the mirror, right next to me. What a beautiful photo. I just wish I had a camera. But I don't. At the moment.

"ADRIKINS!" I wrap my arms around his neck, and he looks extremely uncomfortable after that. But that I don't understand. I mean, how can he feel uncomfortable around moi? Like I pointed out before; I'm fabulous.

"Hey Chloe," Adrien says, looking kind of guilty under the murdering stare of Lila, who tosses her hair and passes by us as if she doesn't see us. He sighs. "So… you know about Lila…"

For some reason, I decide to look back into the mirror because I'm bored. And I think I catch a blue-ish purple… _wisp_ fly by. Is it a feather? I feel like I've seen it before…

"OUT OF THE WAY, ADRIKINS!" I say, shoving him, well, _out of my way._ I keep sight of the feather. I've seen it somewhere before, I know I have. Somewhere dangerous...

HAWKMOTH! Oh my gosh! When Ladybug, Rena, Carapace, Cat and I were battlling Hawkmoth! It's the peacock feather! _Of course!_ That's why it looked so familiar!

I hear panting from behind me, and I turn around for a split second to see Adrien running with me. When I turn back, the feather's gone.

"Adrikins! I was onto something!" I want to fume, I want to be angry at him, but when I look at his face, I calm down. That doesn't exactly mean that I'm not sassy, though.

"Adrien, bring me Ladybug NOW!" I shout at him.

"I can't," he says, panicked. "What happened?"

"Superhero stuff," I say. Well, I can't help but show off, can I? "I must go back to Daddy right now, to have him call a private meeting with Ladybug and Cat Noir." I turn and leave on my heel, but before I walk out the door, I hear Adrien mumble; "No need to call Daddy for that."

"Kagami!"

Adrien lets out a cry of pain as I knock him to the ground, and I smirk, lifting my mask. "That was way too predictable. Is something on your mind? You're not as excited as usual to fencing practice today."

Adrien just grins back up at me. "Really? Because I think of myself as pretty excited today." But I can still tell that there's something bothering him. He's a great person, and he's skilled in many things, but he's really, really, _really_ bad at lying. But if he doesn't want to talk it out with me, that's fine. I'll be there when he needs me.

We laugh together as I help him up to his feet. "Another round?"

He nods and slips his mask back on, and just as we're getting into onguard position, ready to advance and attack, a voice cries out, "Adrien?"

Ugh. Who is this loser, interrupting our match? It doesn't exactly sound like Marinette, and I know her well enough to know that she won't do that to us, even though she's great friends with Adrien. She will _pay._

Adrien lifts his mask and looks around for the source of the voice. His face turned from curious to annoyed, or disappointed as a girl with light brown hair and green eyes walks up to him. He turns pale, and I can tell that he's really uncomfortable around this girl. Well, he's really easy to read. I put a hand on his shoulder. Lifting my own mask, I narrow my eyes.

"Oh Adrien! You do fencing here? What a surprise! I actually fenced for a while. I heard that there's an open session here today, right now! I just thought that maybe you'd be nice enough to help me improve my skills! Because of my short-lasting arthritis, I wasn't able to practice a lot. But now that I'm better, I would _love_ if you could give me some lessons." she bats her eyelashes at Adrien. The girl turns to me, and her eyes widen as if she didn't know that I existed until now. "Oh! Hi there! I'm Lila, what's your name?"

I don't answer.

"Uh… she's my friend," Adrien says awkwardly. "She's a really great fencer. And we were just in a really good bout…"

Adrien looks at me, his eyes pleading for help. I would have laughed at his expression if I didn't hate the girl in front of me at first sight.

"That's great!" Lila says. "She can be my co-teacher! What'd you say?" She waits patiently for Adrien's response, trying all her charms. I almost snort in disgust.

"Well… why don't you get a mask and get dressed first, then I'll consider it," Adrien said, nodding back to me, and we fence another bout as the girl narrows her eyes at me and saunters off, annoyed.

"Who was that?" I ask, blocking his attack and lunging, hitting home.

He sighs, admitting his defeat. "Lila, a girl from my class. Don't believe anything she says. She's… well, I guess I can say that she's obsessed with me."

I laugh, jumping back, and making him miss as I lunge and touch again. "Bragging now, are we?"

Adrien smirks beneath his mask.

"She seems really clingy and annoying. You think she's coming back?" I ask.

"She's _definitely_ coming back," Adrien sighs, and for the first time in the day, he scored a point. I pout as Lila comes back, with a mask and a saber. She holds it in a terrible posture, I almost collapse laughing. Just to get her on her nerves, I let out a scoff. Her face reddens in embarrassment for a split second, and I smirk in triumph. She regains her posture.

"Will you excuse us?" Lila asks me, batting her eyelashes at me. I lift my mask, and although she tries hard, I can see that she's intimidated by my look. She may be pretty, I think, but I'm ten times prettier.

"Listen, we don't get an open session every day," I say as coldly as possible, glaring at her and taking a step forward with my sword. "Adrien and I want to fence more together, Adrien's just too polite to say so."

"Erm," Adrien says nervously. He doesn't deny it.

Lila's eyes are full of hurt as she looks at me, searching for any sign of pity. She closes her eyes. "I'm not free every day, and this is a great opportunity for me," she says quietly. "But I understand if you don't want me here. Maybe I should have stayed on the other side of the world, my return is causing so many problems." she sighs. "It's okay."

Even Adrien's expression is touched for a bit, then hardens when he remembers that Lila's a liar.

I don't soften up one bit under the lie. "You're right it is," I retort. "Now get lost."

Instead of following my instructions, Lila glares at me with equal force. "Now listen here," she says, pointing me and trying to stab me in the chest. Instinctively I block her attack with my sword, but I don't retreat.

"Adrien is in my class, and he and I were the _best_ of friends before I had to move to Achoo over the summer!" she says, tears at the brim of her eyes. "And when I come back, _everyone_ seems to hate me! Adrien doesn't act the same, Chloe hates me, Marinette, you… why? What did I do wrong?"

"Everything," I reply coldly, and without hesitation. Now the tears flow freely as she turns to Adrien. "Adrien… can Kagami and I talk quietly for a moment?"

Adrien opens his mouth to respond, but Lila's already pushing me back into the locker room. Shutting the door, she flings off her mask and takes a deep breath. Then her frown turns into a smirk. "You are good," she says, looking up at me in a triumphant way.

"Yes," I agree. "Better than you."

"You really think that Adrien and you will be friends forever?" she asks, trying to back me up into a wall. "Soon, when Adrien falls for me, I'll make sure you don't have _any_ friends."

"You can't," I say, attacking. It reminds me of fencing; Lila just missed her target. Now it's my turn to riposte. "In fact, you can't harm me in _any_ way. What do you think you'll do? Adrien _knows_ that you're a liar. And _I_ know that Adrien's too good for you."

Lila laughs coldly. "I see that you have feelings for Adrien."

I don't take the bait. "Adrien is my best friend," I say instead. "And we love each other in our own way. You can't break our relationship no matter how hard you try."

"Just you wait and see," Lila responds, tossing her hair. "And believe me when I say this, Kagami, I can do anything I set my mind too. And _no one_ can stop me." Before she can leave, I say something that stops her in her tracks.

"I'd like to see you try."

Lila growls and mutters some curse words under her breath before continuing to leave the locker room.

Stepping out as well, Lila desperately tries to get Adrien's attention, but it's like she's invisible to him. When I wave, he immediately catches the gesture and comes in my direction, walking right past Lila. Lila growls.

"How'd it go?" Adrien whispers in my ear as we walk to a fencing strip together.

"Not bad. Lila lost. She's going to try to turn you against me, against Chloe, Marinette, against everyone except for her. She's really crazy about you."

"But I can see that you're smarter and a step ahead of her," Adrien fist-bumps me. In return, I knock him down with my saber again, and he pokes me in the stomach. Ouch.

You know, Adrien and I are _great_ friends.


	11. Chapter 11

**Oh.**

 **Mi.**

 **Goodies.**

 **Miraculous episodes have been hitting me all at once! I barely have time to write them all down! But this is the first part of Weredad, so enjoy!**

"CAKE!"

I yelp as the ground shakes beneath us, and a giant cloud of dust and smoke rises up into the air. Parisians run for their lives away from the akumatized baby.

"Cake! Cake!"

"Follow him!" I shout at Cat Noir, and he nods, leaping across the chimneys.

The baby gets near the DuPain Bakery, smiles widely, and walks forward, the ground shaking with each terrifying step. "Cake!"

Dad runs out with a paddle in his hands, and his eyes widen when he sees the supersized baby. "I'll protect my pastries if it's the last thing I do!"

"Tom!" Mom runs out right after him. "You're going to get hurt!" They both gasp as the baby comes closer, pure, literal hunger in his eyes.

"No Da- Mr. Dupain! Move aside!" I shout in panic, throwing my yoyo hard. It gets wrapped around the baby's wrist, and I tug hard, trying to keep it from destroying my home.

"Wow, my heart is just like that yoyo-wrapped baby's wrist. Taken prisoner by my lady forever." Cat leans in for a kiss, and I don't have to pull away from him this time. Baby August does it for me.

"CAKE!" He yells in rage as he flings me into a poster of Adrien. Looking up, I giggle. "Adrien's lips… Ahhh!" I fall down, and Cat slides across the ground, catching me in protective arms.

"Admit it, for a second there you almost fell for my poetic verse!" He winks at me charmingly.

"I never fall for your poetry," I say, smirking as I stand up and pat him on the shoulder. "But I do find your foolishness incredibly powerful!"

Cat and I both share a smug smile at that.

"Lucky Charm!" I shout, flinging my yoyo into the air.

There was only a 0.001% chance that a giant doughnut would fall on my head, but sure enough, it did.

Struggling to lift it up, I suddenly felt the weight lift off of my shoulders - literally. Baby August had grabbed it, and tried to take a bite out of it. Spitting it out, he threw it away at a random building. Which happened to be the bakery.

"NOT CAKE!"

It was horrifying. The doughnut had broken the walls of my room. Ohhhh no.

"Your plastic doughnut doesn't stand a chance against the best macaroons in Paris! That baby has taste!" Cat takes out his baton and attacks. I follow his lead.

The doughnut penetrated the walls of Marinette's room, and Tom DuPain panicked. "That's Marinette's bedroom!"

Before Sabine could stop him, he dropped everything and ran up the stairs. "Marinette! Marinette!"

"Cat Noir, grab this!" He heard the distinct voice of Ladybug as the wall in front of him collapsed, making him fall backwards. Immediately he was back on his feet, and continued to run up to Marinette's room.

"Marinette?"

"CATACLYSM!" Tom looked above him to see the ceiling crack, and pieces of the ceiling rained down. This time running faster, he pushed with all his might against the trapdoor to Marinette's room. "MARINETTE!"

The door wouldn't budge, blocked by giant pieces of the fallen wall.

"Miraculous Ladybug!" He heard Ladybug scream, and the magical ladybugs made the fallen wall disappear. In relief, Tom opened the trapdoor, scanning the room for his daughter.

"Marinette?" he saw the bed, and went up to check if Marinette was there. "Marinette!" Seeing a small bump of dark blue hair, he smiled. "Marinette?"

Pulling back the covers, he gasped as he saw it was just a sewn toy!

Baby August fell into my arms as he was de-akumatized, and I picked up his pacifier from the floor.

"So what was it this time?" Cat walks up next to me.

"A late night craving huh, baby August? Aw, you're so cute!" I spun around with him in circles as he smiled up at me.

"I'm a bit jealous," Cat said, rolling his eyes playfully just as I heard a beeping. NO. only one dot left.

"Ah, don't be. Here, you can have him." I pushed Baby August into Cat's arms. "Bye little guy!" I waved at August as I threw my yoyo and dragged myself back up to my room.

"I meant jealous of him!" I heard Cat yell from the ground.

Ducking behind a chimney, I sighed. "Spots off."

"You miss her already?" Cat said softly as he watched Baby August waving at where Ladybug had disappeared. "I know the feeling."

"Gammy!" Baby August replied, looking at Cat with genuine concern and fear. Cat's eyes widened in surprise, thinking of what August could want. Then the image of Ladybug waving goodbye popped up. She was holding August's pacifier.

"Ah, of course! The pacifier!"

"Gammy!" August crooned as Cat took him up to find Ladybug and the pacifier.

Jumping down on the Dupain Bakery's roof, Cat blinked in surprise. Marinette laughed nervously.

"This isn't the first time I've bumped into you right after Ladybug has transformed back!" Cat thought. Marinette had an extremely uncomfortable expression on her face. Cat gasped, realization washing over him. "Could you be…"

"Ahhh!" Marinette screamed, thinking of a solution fast. "Ah, in love with you!" She ran forward and hugged Cat tight.

"Marinette!" Cat gasped in disbelief.

He looked up to see Tom's head through the window. "Oh!"

Marinette turned as well, and Baby August waved enthusiastically. "Cake!"

"Well I never!" Tom said excitedly.

Marinette quickly pulled away, smiling in embarrassment. "Oh, well perfect timing! I'd better take him back to his mother," Cat said, gesturing towards August. Preparing to leave, Cat extended his stick.

"Wait! Why don't you come have Sunday brunch with us tomorrow?" Tom asked, putting a hand on Cat's shoulder.

Cat was speechless. He looked to Marinette, who was rapidly shaking her head. When she saw that Cat was staring at her, she switched to nodding instead.

"Uh…"

"I'll make macaroons!" Tom offered, winking.

Cat smiled. "How can I say no to that? Well, see you tomorrow then." The Dupains waved as Cat leapt away.

"I just thought that she followed us everywhere because she was a fan of Ladybug, like her friend Alya!" Cat said to August as he ran across the roofs. He stopped to look back at the bakery. "But it turns out that she's in love with me. Do you realize? It's the first time a girl has told me that she's in love with me!"

August croaked out an inaudible answer.

"Tell me about it," Cat said. "If only Ladybug would confess her love to me like that." He looked off into the sky dreamily. Then he continued to run off.

I collapsed onto my bed, my head in my hands. "This is a total disaster!" I screamed.

"You shouldn't have lied about your feelings, Marinette!" Tikki chastised. I sat up. "Tikki, he was about to figure out that I'm Ladybug!"

"And now _everyone_ thinks that you're in love with him!" Tikki countered.

I hit myself with a pillow.

Tom excitedly put down a heart-shaped pastry, laughing giddily.

"Our daughter's boyfriend is coming for lunch tomorrow! Do you realize? Marinette has a boyfriend! And he's a superhero on top of that! She'll be safe with him."

"Aren't you jumping the gun a little, Tom?" Sabine chided, sipping her tea.

Tom thought about it. "You're right. I can't be baking dessert when I haven't even started on the first course yet!" He laughed giddily again. "I know! I'm going to cook them a delicious sweetheart's 'full of all'! Now, where are the candies…"

Sabine looked on dumbfounded. She facepalmed. "What I meant is that Cat Noir hasn't said anything about his feelings!"

"C'mon, it's obvious that he's in love with Marinette! Besides, who wouldn't _love_ Marinette?" He asked, fishing out a jar of goodies. "Everyone loves Marinette!"

Sabine smiled nervously.

Cat jumped through the window of the Agreste Mansion, detransforming and stretching. Plagg flew out of his ring. "You finally got yourself a girlfriend! And not just any girlfriend! The daughter of the _best baker in Paris!"_

"Marinette's in love with Cat Noir," Adrien marveled. "I didn't think he was her type!"

"Before you know it, we'll be enjoying some warm, crispy bread to go with every piece of cheese!" Plagg cried, taking out another slice of camembert and splitting it in half. He flew in front of Adrien, his eyes wide with excitement. "Our life is about to change!"

Adrien scowled. "Stop it Plagg. You know I'm in love with Ladybug." He walked away.

Plagg quickly followed behind. "So? I don't see the problem in keeping two pots simmering on the stove! Especially when there's actually only one pot in!" He threw both slices of camembert in his mouth and followed Adrien into the bathroom.

"I have to be honest with Marinette," Adrien argued, staring at his reflection. "I'll go over there for brunch, but only to tell her the truth-"

"Are you kidding?!" Plagg shouted. "At least wait until after the cheese platter is served!"

Adrien rolled his eyes and sighed.

Scanning the rooftops, I smirk, satisfied. "He's not coming."

"But if he does, what are you going to say to him?" Tikki countered.

"I'm sure he's not coming! He's in love with Ladybug! He's not going to come have brunch with us just to have macaroons!"

"He's been rejected so many times by Ladybug. Maybe he's changed his mind!" Tikki pointed out.

"Cat Noir? Change his mind? Ha!" I laugh. "I seriously doubt it. No one's as stubborn and one-track minded as him!"

Adrien fingered his lunch, waiting for his father's arrival. Won't he come for just a meal? Does he hate Adrien that much?

"Shouldn't we be at Marinette's already?" Plagg asked, flying out of Adrien's jacket. Quickly, Adrien shushed him, just as Natalie opened the door.

"Adrien, you have 24 minutes left before it's time to review your Chinese lesson."

Adrien sighed. "Is my father too busy to have lunch with me again?"

"Indeed. Your next meal with your father is scheduled next Thursday between 7:30 AM and 7:45 AM." Natalie said, reading off of her tablet, her expression never changing.

Adrien stood up sadly. "In that case, I think I'll have lunch in my room while studying Chinese. At least talking while I eat will feel like I have some company."

Natalie bowed her head in pity.

In his room, Adrien put down his tray. Immediately, Plagg flew out of his coat. "Delicious bread, here we come!" he sang.

"I told you Plagg, we're not having lunch there. We're only going to tell Marinette that she's not the one I love, then we'll leave." Adrien said stubbornly. Plagg sulked. Adrien rethought that statement.

"She's going to be so sad. How can I make this easier for her?" Looking around absentmindedly, he spotted the rose on his tray. Picking it up, he raised his eyebrows.

Plagg nodded in approval. "You're right. Breaking her heart with flowers will be much more romantic!"

"I told you he won't come!" I say victoriously, backing away from my balcony. A noise from Tikki makes me turn back, and… no. No. NO.

"Looks like you underestimated Cat Noir's love for macaroons!" Tikki shouted, pointing at his leaping figure in the air.

"I don't believe it!" I wail, running to my balcony again, just as Cat drops to the ground in front of the bakery. In his hand, I spot a pink rose.

"Oh no! What if this doofus has actually fallen in love with me? In like what, two seconds?! Is that all his love for Ladybug is worth? Just one tiny declaration of love and that's it, poof he changes his mind?" I was aware that I was making extremely exaggerated movements.

"Uh, since you and Ladybug are the same person, he didn't exactly change his mind," Tikki pointed out. Oh yeah.

"Oh no. I really have to tell him that I'm not in love with him! WAIT! I can't! If I tell him that I don't love him, he won't understand why I told him that I loved him in the first place! I only told him that I loved him so that he wouldn't figure out that I'm Ladybug, but if he sees that I lied, then he'll also see that I did all of that so he wouldn't guess that I'm Ladybug! And he'll figure out that I'M LADYBUG!" I wail.

"Marinette!" I hear my dad's voice call from below.

"Tikki help me!" I pray.

"Wala!" My dad says just as I come down the stairs, and I see the table perfectly set. Oh no. OH no. OH no. The doorbell rings. "This is a nightmare!"

"C'mon sweetheart!" My dad says, pushing me towards the door. Reluctantly, I open the door. Sure enough, Cat Noir was standing in front of me. "Uh, hello Marinette!"

"Uh, hello Cat Noir!" I barely have time to squeeze out when my father pushes past me and wraps Cat into a huge hug. "Welcome to our home!"

"Tom!" My mom scolds. "Let him come up for some air, huh?"

"Oops! Sorry!" My dad picks up Cat and puts him on the floor in front of me, then turns him around so that he's facing me. Cat puts out the rose for me.

"Um, how are you?" I ask awkwardly.

"Fine, and you?" Cat stutters out, constantly looking over to my giddy parents. Suddenly, Cat puts a hand on my shoulder and kisses me on both cheeks.

"Oh! He brought a pink rose for Marinette! She loves pink! You two already know each other so well!" My dad marvels as my mom sits there quietly.

We're both taken aback by those words. I snatch the rose from Cat. "Everyone loves pink, dad, it doesn't mean anything."

"And actually we don't know each other that well!" Cat finishes. I quickly catch on.

"He's right! It all happened so fast!" I say.

Unfortunately, we didn't get the response we wanted from my dad. "Love at first sight!" He crowed. "That's even more romantic!" He walks forward and pushes us into our chairs. "Have a seat, kids. I'll bring out the first course!"

Watching my dad go ahead and get the dishes ready, Cat and I occasionally glance at each other awkwardly. Finally, I took a deep breath. "I have something to tell you." But my voice wasn't the only one that spoke. Cat's voice said the same words at the same time, just as my dad brought over the dish. "Wala! Sweetheart's 'full of all'. For two! Of course."

I look over to Cat Noir for help, but he smiles at me and digs into the meal. I hang my head in shame.

"So tell me, Cat Noir, is being a superhero a steady profession?" Cat immediately looks very uncomfortable and starts choking on the food.

"Tom!" My mom scolds. But I pick up the conversation.

"You're right dad! It must be super dangerous being a superhero's girlfriend, maybe I should rethink this!" Cat Noir smiles.

"Of course not, sweetie!" My dad counters, a wide smile on his face. "Cat Noir won't be a superhero all his life! Once he defeats Hawkmoth, he won't need to run on the rooftops with a stick saving people! I KNOW! He could work in the bakery with ME! I could train you, young man!"

The looks on both me and Cat's faces were pure horror as my dad continued ranting. Cat opens his mouth to speak, but I quickly put my hand on his shoulder. "Maybe Cat Noir doesn't want to be a baker at all!" I say. Cat nods vigorously. But leave it up to my dad to interpret him incorrectly.

"Ah see? He'd love to! Everyone loves bakers!"

Cat Noir puts up a finger to correct my dad, but my dad pushes on. "DuPain Cat Noir Bakery! Doesn't that sound purrfect?"

"Tom!" I hear my mom shout from the sofa.

"I can almost see the little kittens running around in the house, and hamsters! Do you like hamsters?" he asks Cat. Without giving him a chance to respond, he continues. "Because my daughter LOVES them! What did you want to name your future hamster, sweetie?" he asks me. Oh no. Now I'm in the spotlight.

"This is a nightmare," I mumble.

"Nightmare! Right!" my dad shouts excitedly. Then he scrunches his eyebrows. "That's a funny name…" When he realizes that we're almost done with the first course, he goes and gets the second one, which is a cake in the shape of a heart. "Wala!"

"Uh, Tom," My mom speaks up, putting a hand on his arm, "Why don't we let Cat Noir tell us himself what he wants?"

"Good idea!" I respond. "Because he seems to be the type of boy who changes his mind rather quickly." I glare at him, and he swallows his fear.

"Well, actually… Mr. DuPain, Mrs. Cheng, Marinette, here's the thing. You're really nice people, and this meal is delicious, and by far the friendliest I've had in a long time, and Marinette, you're an awesome girl, and I get that you have feelings for me. After all, _I'm_ awesome in so many ways, even I could fall in love with myself!" Cat exclaimed. I shook my head and resisted the urge to facepalm myself a billion times. Mom and Dad blink.

"Anyway, I'm afraid my heart belongs to someone else." This made me perk up. Was I wrong about him? "Even if she keeps rejecting me, even if she loves somebody else, I'm in love with Ladybug." He turns to me, his face truly apologetic. "I'm really sorry, Marinette."

Both my parents gasp and cringe simultaneously.

I almost whoop in happiness. "Oh, this is so…" I turn to see everyone awaiting my reaction. Oops. I'm supposed to be in love with him. Right. "So SAD! Oh! To think I spent all this time following you everyone to tell you that I loved you Cat Noir!" I fake sobbed. "I am so miserable! NO one will ever love me! I will live all alone with my hamster, and it's name will be… LONELINESS!" I ran up the stairs and slammed the door.

"La la la la la!" I say, doing a pirouette. "It's such a relief, Tikki. He's not in love with me!" I barely noticed Tikki's untrusting reaction.

The heart cake Tom had made for Cat Noir and Marinette deflated like a balloon, and Sabine desperately tried to comfort her husband.

"Well uh, I don't want to bother you any longer." Cat rose from the table and walked towards the door in shame. "I'm really sorry. Thanks for having me anyway." He walked out the door. Tom shook in anger.

"Is there a more delicious recipe than a father's heart broken by a child's heartache?" Hawkmoth mused, letting a pure white butterfly fly to the palm of his hand. "Fly, my dreadful akuma. An evil feast of darkness awaits you!"

"How can he _not_ love Marinette? Everyone loves Marinette!" Tom wailed.

"One day, Marinette will meet another boy! She'll love him with all her heart, and -"

"HE'LL BREAK IT TOO!" Tom shouted, pulling away. "Never again! I won't let _anyone_ break my daughter's heart again!" Sabine gasped in horror as she spotted the akuma go into the rose that Tom was holding.

"Weredad," Hawkmoth's voice said. "I am Hawkmoth. I'm giving you the power to protect your daughter from anything that breaks her heart. In return…"

"I'll bring you Cat Noir patte!" Tom replied in delight.

"That's appeasing, but with a miraculous would be perfect!" Darkness spread across Tom, across the floor, across the whole bakery.

"What is this?" Marinette shouted from her room. "Tikki!"

"Marinette!" Tikki shouted, desperately trying to get her way to Marinette through the growing darkness.

"I messed up," Cat Noir mumbled as he walked away from the bakery. An explosion made him turn back, and growing from the roof of the bakery, a large, spiked green vine had sprouted!

"I really messed up!" Cat wailed as he darted back into the bakery. "Marinette!"

Tikki darted out of the vines and spotted a large tangle of vines above her head. "Marinette!" She shouted, flying up.

Sabine stared at the vines in horror as Cat threw open the door. "I'm so sorry, this is all my fault!" Cat desperately apologized.

"Of course not, Cat Noir! It's Tom!" Sabine panicked. "No matter how many times I tell him, he always takes things too far!"

"I'll bring your husband back to his senses, and get Marinette out of this!" Cat vowed, turning to Sabine. "I promise."

"Should you wait for Ladybug?" Sabine offered, worried.

"I trust her," Cat insisted. "She always shows up at the right time."

"You really love her, huh?" Sabine said, smiling.

"Yes," Cat admitted. "But Marinette seems like an awesome girl too, you know? Don't worry, I'll save her!"

"I have faith in you, Cat Noir." She put a hand on his shoulder. "You're a good person. Never apologize for your feelings."

Cat smiled. "Thank you Mrs. DuPain Cheng." He leapt onto the vine and started his long climb up.

"Good luck, Cat Noir!" Sabine called after him.


	12. Chapter 12

**Chapter 12**

Cat Noir panted as he scaled the enormous, spiked beanstalk. Climbing higher and higher, he finally stopped for a breath. Looking down, he gasped.

He was above the clouds.

Looking up, he saw the rest of the way he had to climb to save Marinette. It did seem like a low way. Narrowing his eyes in determination, he continued to climb.

When he reached another benchmark, he looked around. "Marinette!" He gasped as he looked up again. Atop the beanstalk, was a giant tangle of vines.

I leapt down from the enormous vine that I was sitting on. "Tikki!"

Instead of hearing the comforting squeak of my kwami's voice, I heard my own voice echoing around the vines. It seemed to be a never ending forest; a cage. Who could have possibly been akumatized to cause such terror?

"Tikki!" I yell again, louder this time. My voice continues to echo. But between the echoes, I almost faint in relief at Tikki's voice shouting; "Marinette!"

"Tikki?" I ask, running towards the direction of her voice. "I'm here!"

I hear genuine relief in Tikki's voice as well as she called my name again. "Marinette!" Then her voice becomes worried. "Where are you?"

Then that's when I noticed the vines shifting positions around me. Oh no.

"Marinette! Mr. Dupain?" Cat Noir called, climbing up another level.

Before he could call again, an enormous brown beast landed before him. He yelped in surprise. The beast towered over him, with green vines wrapped around his wrists. His eyes glared at him with an unmistakable anger.

"How dare you come back after what you've DONE!" The beast roared. His words shook the beanstalk.

Cat gasped as the beast leapt up into the air and brought down a fist on where Cat was standing. With barely enough time, Cat leapt out of the way.

Taking in the impact of the fall, he rolled to a stop on the vines. Glaring at the beast, he narrowed his eyes in determination. "I will always be here, to save Marinette!" He declared as the beast went in for another punch. Cat Noir blocked it with his stick.

"She's safe from you!" The beast shouted, throwing blow after blow. "And from all the boys who want to break her heart!"

Cat's eyes widened, and he threw the beast off, retreating. "I didn't mean to break her heart, sir, I swear!"

The beast glared at him. "Then I swear I'm about to crush your bones!" He threw a vine at Cat, making him duck and roll out of the way. Roll too much.

Falling off the edge, he only had one hand holding on. "Where are you Ladybug?" he whispered. Hauling himself back up, he looked up at the beast. "I'm sorry that I can't - whoa!"

The beast had grabbed him by the scruff of the neck, and wouldn't let him down. "I can't let you do that!" Cat finished, desperately trying to get down.

"Why NOT?!" The beast asked, throwing him against a vine the size of a tree trunk. Getting up, Cat ducked from another punch. "Because I have - whoa, - a damsel - in distress to save!"

Leaping up onto one of the spikes, Cat desperately tried to escape the infuriated father. Grabbing Cat's tail, he swung him around, while Cat screamed. "I forbid you to rescue her! You don't deserve to save her!" Weredad shrieked, throwing Cat on to the ground painfully. "From now on, no one else but I will protect her!"

Grunting in pain, Cat lifted himself up, clutching his left arm. "And are you planning to protect her all her life?"

"Exactly!" Weredad yelled. "I'll keep her safe from sadness, hardship and anything else that can hurt her!"

"But you can't protect her from what hurts the most. Do you know what hurts the most?" Cat shouted, turning to Weredad with pure fire in his eyes.

"My great big punches!" Weredad replied, leaping forward. Cat Noir pounced as well, his stick raised and shouting a battle cry.

Dodging Weredad's punch, he soared over the beast on his stick, and restrained his arms with his stick. "No! What hurts the most is solitude, believe me, I know all about it! Nothing hurts more than isolation; having to sit alone in front of a cold meal. Is that what you want for your daughter? A lifetime of cold meals in her prison of roses?"

Weredad's eyes softened in sadness at the thought. Then he roared; "SHE WILL NEVER BE ALONE!"

Throwing Cat off of him, he bellowed; "Someday, a prince will come! A prince worthy of her and daring enough to face me! Who will brave the many dangers, and pick the magic rose for her! He will be worthy of taking her from my guard!"

Cat Noir's face showed pure fear.

Running along the spiked vines, I kept shouting Tikki's name.

"This is a magic prison Marinette! It looks like it's trying to keep me from finding you!" Tikki's voice called, although it seemed to be coming from all different kinds of directions.

I gasped, looking around in the knot of vines that I was stuck in.

"There must be a way out of here!" I told myself, looking around desperately. That's when my eyes landed on a beam of sunlight directed upon a single object. Squinting my eyes, I made out the shape of a pink rose. Kind of like the one in Beauty and the Beast.

"That rose! It's the one Cat Noir gave me!" Grinning, I dashed forward. If I could pluck that rose, I would be free, and the akuma would fly off.

But as I set down my foot, the sound of mechanical gears turning stopped me in my tracks. Gasping, I screamed as a swinging vine almost knocked me off the edge. Diving to the ground and covering my head, I looked at the obstacle course laid in front of me. Getting up, I grinned. "Okay."

Leaping forward, I did a series of extremely ungraceful gymnastics moves, dodging vine after vine. If only to get to that rose…

Cat dodged punch after punch, trying to get to an open spot on the mighty beast. Finally seeing his chance, he raised his stick, ready to bring it's wrath down onto the beast. Instead, a vine wrapped around his torso and threw him to the ground, making him drop his stick.

Tugging on the vine, Weredad threw Cat Noir into a vine, making him scream in pain.

"I may not be her prince," Cat said looking up, "But I'm charming enough to free her!"

"I forbid you to do so!" The beast declared, letting a fist crash down onto Cat.

"Marinette? Marinette!" I heard Tikki's voice call in the tangle of vines.

"I'm okay!" I yelled back as I walked over a thin vine like a professional tightrope walker. "I can do it!"

Cat Noir's stick dropped to the floor in four bits. It was beyond repair.

Collapsing onto his knees in defeat, Cat Noir said; "Not being in love with her, losing my stick, won't keep me from saving her!"

Roaring and picking up Cat by his neck, he carried him over to the edge of the beanstalk while Cat desperately punched at his hand. "I'll never give up. Never!"

"You're not worthy of my daughter!" Weredad shouted, ready to let go.

"The miraculous!" Hawkmoth said, smiling evilly. "Grab his ring!"

Weredad's eyes looked over at Cat Noir's hand, which was hanging limp from pain. Reaching forward, he made the move to pluck the ring.

Climbing up the final vine, I grin in triumph as I reach the pink rose. Grabbing it from the beam of sunlight, I yell "Gotcha!"

The rose disintegrates in a pile of purple sand as an akuma flies out, and the whole tangle of vines starts to collapse into itself. Screaming, I yell for Tikki. I see the distinct outline of my father and Cat Noir in a nest of vines, which was also falling apart.

Clinging onto a vine and screaming my head off, I see Tikki. "Marinette!" She says happily.

"Tikki, spots on!" I yell.

Transforming, I leap off of my vine and hurtle towards the ground, headfirst. Spreading out my arms and legs, I slow my fall down as I spot the akuma. Taking out my yoyo, I capture the akuma and let it free as an innocent white butterfly.

"Milady!" I hear Cat Noir yell, and I see him flapping his arms around at me while my dad is absolutely clueless on what's happening.

"I'm coming!" I shout back in determination.

"No!" He says. "Take care of Marinette! She's somewhere around here!"

"Don't worry, I've already taken her to safety!" I yell back, my fall accelerating.

"She's as wonderful as ever," I hear Cat marvel. "Who wouldn't be in love with Ladybug?"

My dad crosses his arms over his chest as he glares at Cat. Faltering, Cat desperately thought of an excuse. "Oh, I, she also has some flaws, you know?"

Reaching Cat and my dad, I yell to Cat; "Not all of us know how to land on our feet, so we're going to need a little bit of luck!" Taking out my yoyo, I shout; "Lucky Charm!"

A life-sized sailboat appears and scoops all three of us in it's bow.

"Do your thing Cat Noir!" I shout at him, smiling.

He nods back at me as he raises his hand. "Cataclysm!"

Placing it down on the bow of the boat, he yelled; "Hang on!" We all grabbed the sail. Cat Noir and I act in sync as we tie the sail to the stick, and craft it into a hang glider.

Soaring below the clouds, we land in front of the DuPain Bakery.

"Tom!" My mom yells as she runs out the door. "Honey!" my dad yells back as he embraces my mom.

"Pound it Milady!" Cat Noir says, slumping over but raising a fist. Instead of waiting for me to give him a fist-bump, he swoons and falls against me. He must be really tired. I'm touched by his hard work to protect Marinette as I say; "Pound it Cat Noir." I toss the stick up into the air. "Miraculous Ladybug!"

The Ladybugs erase all the vines from existence, and the bakery is good as new. Cat Noir smiles up at me in pride, and we share that moment of respect and friendship for about two seconds, before my parents remembered my existence and ran up the stairs shouting "Marinette!"

Despite how tired Cat Noir was, he ran as fast as he could up the stairs as well, shouting "Marinette!"

"Wait! The miraculous ladybugs repaired everything so she must be safely back in her room!" I yelled, trying to get them to stop. No such luck.

Jumping up onto the balcony of my room, I opened my trapdoor and slid down my railing, muttering 'spots off' just as my parents and Cat Noir reach my room, panting.

My dad wraps me in a bear hug and I make a weird noise. "Dad, I can't breathe!"

Rapidly pulling away, my dad apologized. "Sorry, I was so scared! You were so heartbroken because of that…" he turned and glared at Cat Noir. Cat immediately straightened and put on the most innocent smile he could muster.

"Dad, stop! Cat Noir has every right to be in love with Ladybug." Walking forward, I put my hands on Cat Noir's shoulders. "She's very lucky to have you. And just because you and I aren't in love with each other, doesn't mean that we can't be friends."

"Really?" Cat was surprised. "Phew! I really didn't want to hurt you, Marinette. You seem like such an awesome person." He wraps me in a hug.

I smile.

"Even though you're not a huge fan of mine, like I originally thought when I saw you on the roof."

"What? You just thought that I was a _fan_ of yours?" Oh great. Now I really overreacted.

"Well, yeah! That's what I was about to say when you jumped on me; _Could it be that she's a fan of mine?_ "

Sabine smiles. "You see Tom? Your daughter is strong and can handle her own disappointments. Even if he's not in love with Marinette, Cat Noir proved himself by saving her today."

My dad smiles in pride. "It's true. Your courage and tenacity match those of the greatest pastry chefs! Are you sure that you don't want to learn the train? If you bring fresh croissants to Ladybug every morning, she'll surely wind up falling in love with you!"

"Dad!" I yell, and all four of us start laughing.


	13. Chapter 13

**Chapter 13**

Chloe stormed into the room, frustrated. She had tried to get her father to call a meeting with all superheroes, including Ladybug and Cat Noir, but they were busy fighting another villain. The rest of our gang laid back to watch, so we could get a feel of how difficult fighting one of these villains could be. Turns out, Weredad was no harder to defeat than any New York supervillain. Ladybug didn't even have to fight, I hear.

"Okay, American superheroes," Chloe said, slamming down a few files and sitting down on her chair. "Since Ladybug, Cat Noir, Rena Rouge, and Carapace can't join us at the moment, I'm going to have to talk it out with you guys. Basically, my Parisian gang and I were fighting Hawkmoth a few weeks ago, and he has the miraculous of the moth. But, apparently he also has the miraculous of the peacock, although he doesn't use it. However, the peacock miraculous holder is on Hawkmoth's side, and when we were about to defeat Hawkmoth forever, a blue feather appeared and went into Hawkmoth's cane, like an akuma would to something on a victim. And then-"

"Whoa whoa, wait just a sec," Monee said calmly. "Who's this Rena Rouge and Carapace?"

"No matter!" Chloe said furiously. "Let me finish! And then, a giant moth appeared and blew all the Parisian superheroes away, giving Hawkmoth time to escape. And then the blue feather came out of his cane and went away as an innocent white feather."

"Okay…" Lupa started. "But why does that story concern us?"

"Well, one day when I was talking with Adrikins, I saw the exact same blue feather!" Chloe said seriously. "That means that the peacock holder is back in the game!"

I nodded. "So, what exactly can we do about it?"

"Excellent question, Cassidy!" Chloe approved. I almost laughed at how much she sounded like a real boss. "To answer that, I need all of you superheroes to be on the lookout for a blue feather that looks something like this!" She flipped over one of the papers to reveal a rather detailed drawing of a fluffy, purple-blue feather. The rest of my gang nodded.

"If you see it, don't touch it no matter what; it's evil! Instead, call me, and I'll sort it through!" Chloe commanded.

"Uh, what if you're not available?" Avery asked, bored.

"Then call Ladybug and Cat Noir," Chloe responded, as if it were obvious. Avery shrugged in response. "Why can't we just capture it ourselves?"

"Well, because… because you can't."

"How about you teach us how to do it?" Lupa offered innocently.

"I… uh… don't really know… how to explain it," Chloe finished. "But feel free to ask Ladybug or Cat Noir about it. I'm sure they will be willing to go through the hard work of teaching."

There were a few quiet chuckles from my gang, but we nodded, and promised to be on the lookout for the blue feather. When Avery flew out with his eagle wings, and Monee and Lupa walked out of the door together, I stayed after to snap a picture of the feather. Marinette and Adrien will need to see this.

"C'mon, look at all the nice pushies, don't you want to play with them?" I beg.

"Dolls? I hate dolls. I hate toys! They're for babies!" Chris shouts, kicking his backpack at me. The toys fall out from inside them and scatter in front of me.

"Yes, but you're too young to play Grim Monster Clash 3!" I try to explain patiently.

"No I'm not!" Chris crosses his arms and turns his back to me. "And I'm not scared of monsters anymore, you know? I'm-"

"A big kid, yes I know." I look up, and cock my head when I find that he isn't there. Looking around my room, I don't see him anywhere.

A sudden blast of noise takes me aback as I turn around. My computer screen was on, and Chris was sitting in my chair, holding the remote. He turned it off quickly when I dash in front of him. "Why don't we watch a cartoon instead? I have Patatio potato if you want!"

"That show's for babies! I'm a big boy!" He tosses the remote at me and marches off. I sigh as I catch the remote.

"We could play with your snowglobe?" I offer. In response, he tosses a beanbag at my face.

I look over at Tikki, my eyes pleading. She gives me a smile of encouragement. I sigh and smile.

"Hey, what's that?" Chris asks, opening a large chest in my room. I panic and run to it, slamming it shut and sitting on top of it. "Oh, uh, it's nothing!"

"Hey! No fair! C'mon! What are all those gifts?" Chris pleads.

"Uh…" _Look, I can't tell you that these are the gifts I've made for Adrien's next 35 birthdays, because you'll tell your brother Nino, and he'd tell Adrien! And then Adrien will think that I'm totally crazy! Wait, maybe I am._

I sigh and look down at the snowglobe in my hands. The snow flurries around a pine tree, with gifts around it. Gifts… pine tree…

I smirk, coming up with an idea. "I can't tell you that I'm one of Santa Claus' elves on a secret mission. And that I'm looking after one of his boxes of gifts! You wouldn't be interested though, because gifts are for babies, right? And you're a big kid."

Chris glares at me. "THAT'S A LIE!" He screams.

"What, that you're a big kid?" I tease.

"NO! That you're one of Santa Claus' elves!" He continues to scream at me. I smile.

"I can't say anything more."

Chris' little eyebrows furrow in concentration. Then he lights up. "Hey wait! That means you can give me my Christmas present early! Grobo-tech ultimate destructor!" He does extremely dramatic movements to express how excited he is. "It's easy, it has to be the biggest one in the box!" He desperately tries to pry the chest open from beneath me.

"Now wait a minute, I thought toys were for babies," I say, catching his mistake.

"They are!" Chris shouts quickly. Then he starts rethinking that. "Most of the time. But Grobo-tech's different!" He smiles innocently.

"You don't say!" I laugh smoothly. "Well, I'm sorry, but Christmas rules are very, _very_ strict. You don't open gifts early, Santa gives them at Christmas, not at Easter or Halloween, otherwise you might as well have a bunny or a witch delivering your presents!"

Chris thinks about it for a minute. "But… since you know him… you can ask him! Can't you just call him on the phone or send him an email?" he complains.

Uh… "Oh, no! You never disturb Santa Claus! Except at Christmas! The rest of the year he's… in the North Pole! Devi - uh, supervising the production of toys!" I finish ever-so-smoothly. Oh curse me.

Chris stares at me with an extremely suspicious look on his face.

"Besides," I continue. "Your present isn't here anyway. We elves don't watch over gifts for kids we know! One of the other elves must have it! Santa's the only one who would know where to find it, because he knows who's getting what. He has a list of good children."

Chris sighs and lowers his head in disappointment and shame. I soften at the sight. Am I being too hard on him? He's only a little kid after all. I was never good with kids.

"Uh… there is _one_ exception to the Christmas rule!" I offer. Immediately after the last word leaves my mouth, Chris jumps up, his pout replaced by the most excited smile I've ever seen from him.

"Really? What is it? What is it?" He shouts, jumping up and down.

"Santa is allowed to make one exception, but only for the best behaved kid in the whole _world_!" I make up.

"Who's the best behaved kid in the whole WORLD?" Chris repeats, emphasizing the last word the same way I did.

"Hm… maybe… Ladybug?" I suggest.

Chris sighs and crosses his arms. "Well, seeing as she saved Paris like a gazillion times, that makes sense!"

"Or a kid for example who cleans up all the mess he's made and plays quietly with toys that are for kids his age?" I offer, giving the snow globe to him.

Slowly, hesitantly, he reaches for the snow globe in my hand.

Just as he's about to take it, the trapdoor to my room opens, and Nino and Alya walk in. "Marinette, we're back!" "Did you guys have fun?"

"Sure we did!" I stand up, greeting them. "How was the movie?"

"Awesome!" Nino exclaims. "Thanks for watching my bro, Marinette!" He notices the pout on Chris' face, and bends down. "What's wrong, little dude?"

Chris looks up. "Mmm…. WAAAAAH!" He cries. "I want it to be Christmas right NOW! WA HA!"

Both Nino and Alya's eyes go from the wailing Chris to me. I laugh nervously. "I… have absolutely _no_ idea where that came from!" I wave goodbye to Chris as Nino tosses Chris over his shoulder. The brothers walk downstairs, Nino desperately trying to comfort Chris.

"Uh, I guess we'd better get going!" Alya says to me. "Bye girl!"

I sigh in relief. Just before Nino gets down the stairs with Chris, I shove the snowglobe in Chris' hand. "Bye Nino! See you soon, Chris!" I shut my room trapdoor, and sit on the floor, sighing in relief.

"A Christmas elf on a secret mission? Seriously Marinette! Don't you think you went too far this time?" Tikki scolds.

"I know, Tikki, it was pure ridiculousness! But I couldn't tell him the truth about the gifts!" I stood up, starting to pick up the stuffed animals that Chris had thrown across the room. "Besides, I simply told Chris a nice little story that will hopefully teach him some patience!" I walked away, putting the stuffed animals on my desk.

"Speaking of patience, I got an idea of what I can give Adrien for his 50th birthday! Give me a hand?"

Tikki brightened up and flew over to my sewing machine, and together, we got to work.

 _Zoom!_

I st up quickly, looking out the window. "Snow?"

Seeing the small flurries in confirmation, my eyebrows shoot up. "Whoa, how long was I asleep?"

Opening the trapdoor to my balcony, I yelp as I saw giant catfish flying and blowing fire out of their noses!

"It's over, Santa Claus! You're surrounded!" My eyes dart down in horror to where a whole army of green, life-sized toy soldiers were standing, facing their general, the speaker. "Surrender and don't put up a fight!"

The soldiers start marching mechanically down the street, chanting; "Searching for Santa Claus far and wide!"

"Get back on the sidewalk!" A policeman shouts at running kids, who are looking back in fright, completely ignoring the policeman. Turning to see what the commotion was, his eyes widen as he sees a large T rex stomping his way.

Speechless, I watch with wide eyes. "Oookay, it's just a dream. I'm going back to bed!" I start walking back indoors.

Suddenly, I feel a sharp pain in my ear, and I glare at Tikki. "Why did you do that, Tikki?"

"See? You're not dreaming!" Tikki pointed out. I run back to the balcony, looking down onto the street. "Well if I'm not, it means…" I catch sight of the flying catfish, flying slowly towards the eiffel tower, which had bright, Christmas lights decorated on it.

"This _does_ look like a nightmare, though."


	14. Chapter 14

"Peafowl, feathers out."

Natalie winced once again as she transformed into Mayura. She took a deep breath and walked forward, entering Gabriel's secret code, and stepping into his Hawkmoth room. The floor was covered in innocent, white butterflies, each one ready for Gabriel to turn into akumas.

Natalie would have to take the blue feather back. Gabriel definitely wasn't happy with that, and Natalie couldn't let more things plague Gabriel's life. He'd already failed enough.

Closing her eyes and lifting her hand, she willed the feather to come back this way. All of a sudden, a pang of pain stabbed into her heart, and she collapsed. A blue halo-ish object appeared around her eyes. She sensed the sadness in the heart of the feather's victim. Despite her pain, she was exhilarated. Her plan was going into motion.

"Cassidy Nightingale," she said smoothly, somehow knowing the victim's name. "I am Mayura. I'm only here to help you through the crisis that you're going through. Won't you tell me what's wrong?"

She could only see Cassidy crying at the other end. "Go away," she whimpered.

"Allow your despair to take form of a powerful force of revenge," Mayura instructed. Cassidy shook her head desperately, trying to ward off Mayura. But the feather was planted in her tattoo for good.

"You won't regret it," Mayura said to the crying girl. After a few more moments, Cassidy nodded, and stood up. All of a sudden, an enormous, black bird appeared above her in the sky, hovering there. A few more birds joined the first.

Mayura's heartbeat was quickening. This was exactly what she wanted.

Soon, the whole flock of black nightingales were prepared, and at Cassidy's movement, they took flight, searching for the person responsible for Cassidy's sadness. Mayura nodded in approvement.

"Good, good. I will give you the power to summon as many weapons or defenses you need from your despair whenever you want, on one condition; you bring me back Ladybug and Cat Noir's miraculouses."

"Yes, Mayura," Cassidy said in determination. She spread her wings and took flight, joining her black nightingales across the sky.

Mayura de-transformed in triumph, still looking out the sky window of the Agreste Mansion. Everything was perfect.

Two weeks earlier…

"Tikki, spots on!"

Marinette spun in a circle before the bright, red light faded, and standing in Marinette's place was Ladybug, fully transformed.

Ladybug threw her yoyo at a nearby building, and swung from building to building, ready to fight Chris Master.

There was furious knocking on the DuPain bakery door, and Tom opened it. He looked around, confused and bewildered at the numerous, life-sized toy soldiers standing before him.

"Santa Claus! Have you seen Santa Claus?" One of the soldiers asked.

"Santa Claus? But… it's not Christmas yet!"

I somersault in mid air before landing on a lamp post.

"Nadia Chmock here. Don't be bemused, it's just the news. Paris has been literally invaded by giant toys, looking for Santa Claus!" I jump when Nadia is suddenly surrounded by toy soldiers, and a teddy bear appears on screen instead.

"We know you're here, Santa Claus! All your toys belong to us! If you don't give yourself up real quick, this little city of Paris will go KABOOM!" The screen shuts down.

"What's going on?" I marvel. Wasting no time, I leap over building after building, determined to find Santa Claus before the toys do.

My keen eyes find a red sleigh, and I jump down to take a look. The sleigh is still steaming, burned everywhere. Shaking my head in disbelief, I open up my yoyo, and call Cat Noir. "Cat Noir, you won't believe what I just found!"

"Actually, I think I know, milady! I'm with Santa Claus. We've taken refuge in the ice rink."

"I'll meet you there!" I replied, shutting off my yoyo and heading towards the ice rink.

"I can't believe it! Are you _really_ Santa Claus?" Philipe's joy and surprise was unbearable.

"No, I'm the Easter Bunny in disguise! You can't see my long ears because of the hat," Santa replied indignantly. Philipe's expression instantly fell. Santa brightened up, laughing. "Of course I'm Santa Claus!"

"Oh, okay! I need you to know, I've been a really good boy!"

A void in the sky opened up, and a bright blue light shone onto a spot on the street. A toy dog materialized, and the light faded.

The dog sniffed the ground. "I smell wood fire and cinnamon cookies! Santa Claus must be nearby!" He straightened up, addressing the rest of the toy soldiers behind him. "Soldiers, get in line!"

"At your command, Colonel Woof!" the soldiers did as told.

"Follow me, this way!" The dog turned and bounded towards the ice rink, the green toy soldiers marching close behind. "Searching for Santa Claus far and wide…"

"Luna, Maya and Talia! When I tell my daughters I met you they're going to freak out!" Philippe is exalted when Santa Claus hands him back his autograph.

"Santa Claus?" I drop down onto the ice. "I'm so glad you're alright, but what are you doing here? It's not Christmas yet!"

"I have no idea!" Santa responds. Gee, real helpful. "I was busy supervising the production of toys for next Christmas with my elves, when all of a sudden, bang! I woke up in my sleigh in the Paris sky! Flying catfishes destroyed my sleigh, my reindeer were able to get away, but it it hadn't been for Cat Noir, they would have captured me!"

I narrow my eyes. "Don't you think this whole thing is kind of strange?" I whisper to Cat.

"Stranger than fighting a Pharaoh's reincarnation? Or a pigeon overlord and powered by magical butterflies you mean?" I pout. Cat does have a point there.

There is a loud pounding, and suddenly the wall behind us explodes into pieces! When we look up again, I gasp as I see a giant T-rex, and a life-sized toy dog. "Haha! Gotcha!"

Toy soldiers surround the ice rink within seconds. The dog walks forward in triumph. "My sense of smell has sniffed you out, Santa Claus. Follow me and do not show resistance!"

Cat and I dive in front of Santa. "Stay back, Santa!"

"Chris Master demands his gift!" the dog continues in his heavy accent.

Suddenly, something clicks in my mind. " _Chris_ Master?"

"Christmas gifts must be deserved!" Santa walks forward indignantly, glaring at the Colonel dog. "And they're only given at Christmas! If you think I'm going to bend the rules, you're barking up the wrong tree!"

Philippe skates between us and the toys. "Now hold on a minute! There's no use in fighting. That's not the Christmas spirit now, is it?"

The Colonel, bewildered at Philippe's casualty, is taken aback.

Philippe turns to Santa. "Would it be such a big deal if you gave the presents early? Just this once?"

"Listen to the smart man!" the Colonel takes his chance.

Philippe skates in front of Santa, continuing; "And while you're at it, I asked for super blades and I can really use them for my upcoming competition!"

"I kind of like this idea!" Cat joins in, and I shoot him a look of extreme disapproval, but he doesn't catch it. "I asked for-"

"Stop!" Santa glares at everyone. "That's not the way it works!"

"Aw, why not?" Cat, Philippe and the Colonel say together.

"Christmas rules are very strict, you don't open gifts early! I give them at Christmas, not at Easter, or Halloween! Otherwise…"

"You might as well have a bunny or a witch delivering your presents!" Santa and I say simultaneously, just as I realize my mistake. "Oh no, what have I done?"

"But couldn't you-"

"Make an exception?" Cat and Philippe say, finishing each other's sentence.

"Tradition is tradition! If we stop respecting it, then it's the end of Christmas!" Santa explains furiously.

"Aw!" Cat and Philippe both pout in disappointment.

Santa thought about what he just said. "Well, there is one case in which I could make an exception…"

"For the best behaved kid in the whole world, the one at the top of your list of good children," I finish.

"Bravo, Ladybug!" Santa smiles at me in approval. "At last _someone_ who knows the rules of Christmas! But I doubt your Chris Master is the best behaved kid in the whole world."

"In that case…" The colonel thinks for a moment. "Soldiers, ATTACK!"

The Colonel leaps forward, trailed by the soldiers. Cat and I also leap into battle, shouting battle cries.

"Why so much hatred?" I hear Santa contemplate from the side of the rink as we slip and slide across the slippery ground. Cat and I crash into the wall, as Philippe does amazing tricks. He stops in a spin before us. "Ladybug, Cat Noir, protect Santa! I can take care of these toys!"

Trusting his judgement of himself, Cat Noir and I take Santa and leap out of the broken piece of the ceiling where the toys had broken in.

Philippe skates elegantly across the rink, knocking down soldiers as he goes, laughing in triumph and exhilaration. "Triple axel, and a pike spin into a double toe loop! Not so high and mighty now, are we?"

There is a flash, and Philippe yelps in pain. "Ow! You've got some sharp teeth for a toy!" He glares at the T-rex holding him in it's mouth. "Get me out of here!"

Dashing through the streets, I yell back at Cat and Santa; "I think I know who the toy's master is! I should've thought of it sooner!"

Skidding to a stop at the corner of the road, I peek over cautiously, Cat following suit. "Who is he?"

Pulling my head back from the corner, I turn to look at Cat and Santa. "I just had to check first to be sure." I turn to Santa, smiling. "May I, Santa?"

Santa looks up at his hat, shrugs, and hands it to me.

Holding, I take a deep breath through the nose, sighing in delight. "Mm, that smell of a woodfire and cinnamon cookies, it's so… Christmas-y!" I put the hat on Cat Noir's head. "You're up, Santa Cat!"

"This way!" Cat, Santa and I turn around as we hear the colonel's voice. "I smell Santa Claus' scent!"

Cat and I nod at each other in understanding. That one nod said so many things. I was saying; _You got this._ And Cat was replying; _I won't let you down Milady._ I guess that's what being around Cat Noir so much does to you.

Cat leaps onto the building, and looks down at the colonel and the green soldiers. Taking a deep breath, he yells; "Ho ho ho! Merry Christmas everyone!"

The Colonel looks up at Cat. "There he is! I can smell him! He is not far! Follow me!" The colonel leaps after Cat, who's already on the run.

"C'mon Santa, I know where to find Chris Master!" I swing myself and him across the street. Not long after we've been swinging for a while, I hear the desperate yelling of Nino. "Chris! Chris! Chris!"

The moment Santa and I land, Nino runs over to me. "Ladybug! My little bro Chris, he was in his bedroom, and then, he disappeared!" Catching sight of Santa besides me, he raises an eyebrow. "Uh, Santa Claus?!"

Santa throws back his head and laughs his jolly laugh. "Hello, Nino!"

Nino's face shows pure confusion. But it's time we get back to the point. "Nino, I think Chris has been akumatized," I explain. "Did you notice anything different about his room?"

Nino adjusts the position of his glasses. "His favorite toys have gone missing too!"

I narrow my eyes. "Plastic soldiers? A catfish?"

"Yes! Plus his dinosaur!"

I nod in understanding. "So he _is_ the toy's master! But… he could be anywhere, how are we going to find him?"

"Please save the little dude, Ladybug!" Nino begged. Smiling sadly, I put a hand on his shoulder. As he looks up at me, I nod in promise.

"Lucky Charm!" I shout, throwing up my yoyo at the sky.

I should have expected something like stationary would fall down from the sky. Because it did.

"Stationary?" Nino comments in doubt.

"You make some prized gifts appear! Are you competing with me, Ladybug?" Santa jokes. Little does he know, that gives me an idea.

Thinking mode turns on, as I look around. My eyes land on his basket. Bingo!

"Of course! You're right! A surprise gift!" Turning Nino around so that his back is to me, I push down on his back so that he has to bend. Putting the notebook on his back, I scribble a note. Finishing, I let out a sound of satisfaction.

Walking over to Santa, I hand him the notebook. "Can I have my gift, Santa? Please?"

"You know that I can't do that, Ladybug!"

"Except…" I push on.

"For the best behaved kid in the whole world!" Santa realizes. "But…"

"It's certainly worth a try," I shrug, still smiling.

Frowning, Santa reaches into his basket, pulling out a piece of parchment. Letting go of the other end, Nino and I both step out of the way as an enormous amount of names unroll from the scroll.

Examining the first name, Santa's eyebrows raise. "Unbelievable! Ladybug, you _are_ the best behaved kid in the whole world!" My hopes immediately shoot up, and I yelp in victory.

"Well, seeing as she saved Paris a gazillion times, that totally makes sense!" Nino shrugs.

Smiling, Santa reads my note. "Dear Santa, I want the same gift as Chris Laheive, whatever it is." Santa raises an eyebrow at my weird demand. "Are you sure about this? You know that this is the only gift you'll get this whole year from me."

"Yes, I know, but I'm doing this to save Paris, and Nino's little brother!" I respond, my confidence soaring.

Santa smiles in approval. "Ah, you really do deserve to be at the top of my list." Digging through his basket, he pulls out a small gift. I giggle in delight.

"Merry Christmas, Ladybug!" He hands me the gift.

"Thank you Santa! Now get to safety. I'll take it from here!" I leap out of their sight.

"By the way, Santa, where do I fall on your list?" Nino smiles.

"Hmm…" Santa starts scrolling down the list. After a long time of not seeing Nino's name, he sighs and gives up.

 _Swing… leap into a somersault, a straddle, leap! And land._ Perfect.

Picking up a loudspeaker dropped on the ground by a police car, I shout into it; "Chris Master! I have your Christmas present. Come and get it if you want it!"

Immediately after I call, a small helicopter appears from around the corner, and snatches it from my hand, flying back up. I smirk in victory. On to Phase Two.

Leaping over building after building, I follow the helicopter through the sky. Soon, a platform lowers from the sky. The helicopter changes directions and starts flying towards the platform, still holding the bright red present in it's grasp.

As the platform starts to rise, I quickly wrap my yoyo around one of the structures and heave myself up just as the platform takes it's place back in the air.

Giving my yoyo a sharp pull, it pulls me up onto the platform, and I land soundlessly. I stand up, looking straight forward, my eyebrows furrowed in determination. Giant lego structures are built around me, and the platform truly does seem like a Lego World.

Dashing behind lego after lego, I finally see Chris Master, sitting atop his throne. The helicopter drops the present in his hand, and he laughs out loud. Eagerly unwrapping his present, he shouts; "Wow, awesome! Grobo-tech Ultimate Destructor!"

"Mission accomplished, Chris Master!" I look up to see the Colonel riding atop a flying catfish. "We have captured Santa Claus!"

"He tried to trick us by dressing up as Cat Noir, but he couldn't fool _us._ " Looking down, I resist the urge to facepalm as I see Cat nervously smiling at Chris Master.

It appears that Chris Master and I had the same urge, because Chris yells; "You _were_ tricked! That's Cat Noir dressed up as Santa Claus, not the other way around! You're such babies!" Chris picks up a lego piece and throws it at the teddy bear. "Keep searching!"

A purple halo shines on Chris' face. "It doesn't matter, Chris Master! You don't _need_ Santa Claus anymore, now that you have your present. I on the other hand haven't yet received mine. Take Cat Noir's miraculous! Then all we have to do is get rid of Ladybug's magic jewel." I growl as I hear Hawkmoth's voice.

"Gimme your paw, Kitty Cat! Pap Pap wants your ring. It's a stupid dumb dumb Christmas gift, but that's his price-"

Using my last minute to think, I throw my yoyo at the rope, and Cat does multiple flips, landing next to me in fighting stance.

"Ladybug?" Chris asks in disbelief.

"Christmas presents are delivered on Christmas Eve, and only to the good kids, Chris Master. I have to say, you and Hawkmoth didn't even make Santa's list!"

"That's where you're wrong, Ladybug," Hawkmoth retorts. "You've just brought me my second gift! Which only goes to show what a good Hawkmoth I've been this year. Use the powers I gave you, Chris Master, and seize their miraculous!"

Looking around, Chris smirks as he spots two Ladybug and Cat Noir dolls. Picking them up, he laughs evilly. "I have my secret weapons to fight you with, yourselves!"

Placing a hand on the red snowglobe, a void opens in the sky, dropping a life-size Cat Noir and… Me!

The two toys land elegantly side by side, and Chris Master laughs evilly. "Have fun, dumb dumbs!"

"Well at least now we know for sure that the akuma is in his snowglobe!" I shrug, trying to look on the positive side.

"But we're going to have to defeat ourselves," Cat replies.

The toy Ladybug says in a mechanic voice; "Lucky charm!" a large nunchuck appears in her hand, and she swings it around threateningly.

"Cataclysm!" the toy Cat raises his hand, and pulls it back down, black spots dancing around it.

Gasping as the toys charge in our direction, I leap out of the way as Cat raises a lego piece. The toy Cat Noir pushes against it, and the lego piece disintegrated into ashes. Cat gasps and runs, his toy chasing after him.

I leap and duck out of the nunchucks reach. At a closer glance, I realize that the toy Ladybug is a little bit bigger than me. Not helping.

Leaping high into the air, I throw my yoyo down at the toy. The yoyo wraps around the nunchuck, and I toss it over the edge of the lego platform. Panting as I land back on the ground, Cat and his toy join us. The real heroes side by side, and the toys side by side, ready to fight.

"Lucky Charm!" My toy swings a large club back and forth.

"Cataclysm!" the toy Cat gets back into fighting stance.

"Playtime never ends for these too!" Cat complains, glaring at the toy. I hear a familiar beep, and I tell him urgently; "The problem is, my playtime is up! I don't have much time left before I transform back!"

"Watch out!" I yelp as Cat pushes me to the side, as the toy Cat leaps forward, almost destroying me with his touch.

"Then it's time to show them who the _real_ game masters are!" Cat smirks as we run from the toy. I nod back in determination.

We shout as we leap to the sides as the toys each land a ground-shaking strike on the piece of land that we were just standing on.

Cat hits his stick as hard as he can onto the elbow of the toy Cat, but it doesn't do any good. The toy easily blocks his blow and continues chasing him with his destructive paw.

Chris laughs evilly from his throne as he watches us run and dodge the blows of his toys. "My toys are going to destroy you! You guys are _such_ babies!" He starts playing with his Grobo-tech Ultimate Destructor.

I hear the distinct sound of Hawkmoth's evil laughter. "It's over! In a few seconds now, their miraculous will be mine! Christmas has come early this year!"

I'm snapped back into the reality of the moment as my toy summons six knives. She throws them at me, and my yoyo smashes them to pieces.

Cat kicks and punches his toy, but to no avail.

"What about using my power to destroy these toys?" Cat suggests, looking on at them with ongrowing fear.

"Lucky charm!" the toy Ladybug braces a large sword.

"If that's our only choice," I say reluctantly. "But we need to save it to smash the snowglobe!"

Getting back into fighting stance, we hear a jolly laugh from above. "Ho ho ho! Claws off, you notty toys!"

Sure enough, Santa Claus is riding above us in his chariot, flying catfish pulling the chariot along. Sweeping up the two toys, he pushes them off the platform.

"Santa Claus!" We shout in relief.

He pulls up besides us. "At your service, Ladybug! You're lucky that your friend Cassidy urgently told me to come! There's no way I'm letting anything happen to the best behaved kid in the world!" He snaps his reigns. "I'll take care of these two!"

"The best behaved kid in the world?" Cat questions.

"That's me," I boast, making him pout.

We turn around at a wail, to see Chris stomping on his throne. "Ah, no fair! My toys!"

"C'mon, Chris. Give me that snowglobe!" I say as Cat and I advance forward. "You've got your Christmas gift!"

"If you don't want me to take away your present, Chris Master, remember that you're supposed to bring me Ladybug and Cat Noir's miraculous!" I hear Hawkmoth command as a purple butterfly hologram appears on Chris' face.

With a surprised expression, Chris looks down at Grobo-tech. As an idea dawns on him, he smirks triumphantly. Lifting the snowglobe, his eyes shone with pure evil.

"No, stop!" I scream. But it's too late. He presses down on the snowglobe, and a huge void appears in the sky once again, but this time, dropping a humongous version of his Christmas present.

Cat and I step back in fear. "Oh, no!"

"Destroy them, Grobo-tech Ultimate Destructor!" Chris commands, his smile genuine as he points at the robot.

We leap out of the way as the robot shoots bullets at us from it's arms. Cat and I both throw our weapons at it as hard as we can, but it's no use. The weapons just ping off harmlessly. I gasp as realization comes over me. The robot's indestructible.

Chris laughs harshly from the side, as if watching gladiators fight in an arena. "Nobody can beat Grobo-tech Ultimate Destructor!"

"I can take him down," Cat explains as we run side by side away from the large robot. "Nothing can resist my cataclysm!"

"I know, but I'm going to need it fully functional. Follow my lead!" I skid to a stop and turn around to face Chris Master. "Hey! Grobo-thing! You want my miraculous? Come and get it!" I run towards the machine.

I dodge all of it's bullets, before sliding between his legs, and continue to run.

Catching on, Cat leaps up the robot's large legs. Landing on it's head. Seeing what is happening, Chris desperately yells; "Stop, Grobotech!"

Cat stands atop the large Christmas present like a king. "Cataclysm!" He shouts so all can hear. Stooping down, he lifts his hand just enough so that it doesn't destroy the large Christmas present.

Walking up next to Chris' throne, I hold out my hand. "You have a choice. Your toy, or the snowglobe!"

"No! Don't do that!" Hawkmoth yells desperately.

Chris looks up as Santa pulls up next to us with the toy Ladybug and Cat Noir draped around his chariot, lifeless. "Listen to Ladybug, kid. You won't regret it."

Looking back down at the snowglobe, his eyes shone with sadness. But he nods, handing the snow globe to me. I'm touched at how he is willing to do that.

"NOOOO!" I hear Hawkmoth shout in defeat.

"Thank you, Chris Master." Looking up at Cat, I throw the snow globe at him with deadly aim. He catches it and the remains crumble to the ground in blackened pieces. A single, purple, evil butterfly flies out.

"No more evil doing for you, little akuma," I say, opening up my yoyo. "Time to de-evilize!"

"Thanks again for looking after the dude, Marinette," Nino says as he and Alya head down the stairs. "Have fun!"

"Sure will!" I say waving nervously. "It'll be awesome! We're really good buddies!" I almost laugh out loud as Chris rolls his eyes.

Closing the trapdoor to my room, the couple head downstairs.

"I know that I shouldn't have told you that I was one of Santa's elves. But you were acting like…"

"A baby, I know." I look up in surprise at that acknowledgement. "Mommy says lying is wrong," Chris continues. "So from now on, we'll always tell each other the truth, okay?"

"Okay," I shrug in consent, "As long as you stop trying to act all grown up." We do a pinky swear.

Pulling away, Chris smirks in satisfaction. "You're not an elf, but you still have another secret, right?" he asks slowly.

"Uh!" I tense up immediately. "A-another secret? W-what do you mean? Like a… secret identity?!"

"NO! The secret in that chest!" Chris replies, pointing at the box with Adrien's gifts inside. He raises his eyebrows. Looking past him, I spot Tikki.

I sigh. "Okay. The truth. There's this guy at school I have a crush on-"

"EWWWWWWWWW!" I raise my eyebrows in surprise as Chris puts his hands to his ears. "I hate romantic stuff! Gross!"

Smirking cruelly, I pretend to swoon. "Oh, I am _so_ in love! I dream about holding his hand-" "EW STOP!" "And looking at the stars!" "WAAAAAH!"

Chris and I laugh together. Maybe things weren't as bad as I thought.


	15. Chapter 15

**OMGoodies! I have been gone for soooo long, and I am soooo sorry for that. I've been so busy over the summer, and over the end of the school year! But I'm back now, and ready to write! Anyone else fangirl all over Oblivio, and anyone cringe and laugh so hard at Marinette flirting with Adrien's "statue" in Puppeteer 2.0? ;) That was awesome. Can't wait for the next few episodes!**

 _One week before Cassidy's akumatization thingy…_

"Excuse me?"

"Who are you?"

"This is Lila Rossi. Mr. Agreste left me a note on my locker to tell me to come here!" Lila smiled brightly at the camera.

Natalie glared at the girl. Ever since Lila had tricked her to let Lila in to help Adrien on his homework, Natalie had held a strong grudge against the girl. A liar. A thief.

"Come in," She still said, keeping her voice calm. She was trained to do this, the instructions drilled into her mind. Lila giggled and walked in. The moment she saw Natalie glaring at her, she sucked in a breath, and asked nervously; "W-where is Mr. Agreste?"

"In his study," Natalie spat, pointing in the direction. "Now get out of my sight before I change my mind about letting you in."

Without hesitation, Lila dashed into the study, closing the door firmly behind her, as if she were worried about Natalie following her in.

"Lila, I'm glad you're here," Gabriel Agreste addressed the young girl standing before him, as he spun around in his chair to face her. "I'm glad that you received my note. I'm not one to beat around the bush, so let's get directly into the context. I called you here because I heard that you have an undeniable, terrible hate for Chat Noir and Ladybug. Is that right?"

"What? No! Ladybug is my best friend! She and I-"

"You can't lie to me, Volpina," Gabriel told her, standing up. Lila took a step back. "I think I should be going, sir," she told him firmly, preparing to step out the door.

"No, I don't think so, Volpina," he told her. Just as she was about to open the door handle, Lila gasped. She knew that Gabriel's voice sounded familiar!

"Hawkmoth!" She smiled cruelly, turning back around.

Gabriel laughed. "Yes. But I'm trusting you with a secret, and I need you to keep it just between you and me. Don't even tell my son. You've proven yourself to be a powerful, smart, and tactical ally. I hope that you don't disappoint me when I ask you to help me on my mission to destroy Ladybug."

"I won't let you down, Hawkmoth," Lila vowed, her heart beating rapidly in her chest. This was her dream come true. Finally, after a year of waiting for the chance to strike, fate presented her with this opportunity. The chance of a lifetime, to work with a miraculous holder and destroy the girl who wronged her.

"But of course, first I need to make sure that you don't stab me in the back," Gabriel told her. "Nooroo!" He shouted. The small purple kwami appeared, looking at Gabriel fearfully. "Yes, master?"

"Make Lila here take the pledge of loyalty, and bind it with the miraculous," Gabriel commanded. Nooroo gulped. "But sir, that pledge can only be used once in the entire life of a miraculous holder! It's extremely dangerous to both the miraculous holder _and_ the pledger-"

"I told you, DO IT!" Gabriel yelled.

Nooroo bowed his head. "As you wish, Master."

Lila knelt on the ground, as Nooroo flew in fast circles around Lila's head. Soon, a purple halo had formed, as Lila promised; "I pledge to help you, Hawkmoth, to destroy your enemies whenever you decide fit. I pledge to do all that you ask of me, as long as I'm permitted to keep my supervillain powers. I pledge to bring back the miraculouses. I pledge my loyalty to you, great Hawkmoth."

The purple circle faded as Lila finished her vow. The purple went from the halo into her heart, and she gasped as it went into her.

"Perfect," Gabriel smiled coldly. "Rise, Volpina.

"My first mission is a simple, yet challenging one that I, myself, still have not done," Gabriel continued, turning around and looking up at the tapestry of Emilie on his wall. "But I trust this mission to you, Lila Rossi. Your mission," he continued, walking down the steps and putting a hand on her shoulder, "Is to find out if Adrien is Chat Noir."

Lila smiled an evil smile. "Done."

"Adrien!"

I turn back to see Kagami running up to me. As usual, I light up when I see her face. My beautiful fencing partner was smart, and quick. Of course, I don't love her as much as I love Ladybug, but we have our own kind of special relationship.

"Hey Kagami! What's wrong?"

Kagami rolled her eyes. "For goodness' sake, Adrien, there's nothing _wrong._ I was just wondering if you were going to fencing practice today."

"Yeah, I always do," I shrug in response.

"Look…" Kagami took a deep breath. "I… about me being Oni-Chan… you probably already guessed. I like you."

I smile sadly. "I know. And… I like you too."

Kagami looked up in surprise. "Really?"

"Yeah. But… not in that way. Well, yes in that way, but, not. It's hard to explain." I sat down on one of the steps in front of my school, inviting Kagami to sit down too. "You see," I begin, "When I first met you, I was really impressed. And yeah, I did like you. A lot."

I saw her blush out of the corner of my eye, and I felt myself blush too. "And then, well…" I took a deep breath. Here comes the moment of truth.

"I asked Marinette for some advice. I wanted to spend more time with you, and get to know you better. She was the one who suggested that we should go to the ice rink."

Kagami narrowed her eyes. "So you did invite them because you were scared to be alone with me."

"No! Kagami, please! It wasn't because of that. I was just a bit nervous. It was Marinette giving me the advice, after all. I needed some support."

"I guess I can understand that," Kagami sighed, and sat down again.

 _Phew!_ I continue; "But then… after the skating… I just feel like… Like I like you that way, but not that much. I really like you, but it's half and half. It's a complicated feeling."

Kagami nodded, and I felt reassured. Even though Kagami thought of me as more than a friend, and things might be awkward since I had just told her how I really felt about her, I knew that she would always understand. "Thanks for telling me this, Adrien." She leaned forward and kissed me softly on the cheek, before waving and running off.

I sighed in content, and stood up, turning around, ready to walk home. I almost drop my stuff when I see Lila standing right in front of me.

"Hey Adrien! I have to tell you-"

"I'm sorry, Lila. I have to go home. I'm busy."

"Your dad told you to help me with math homework today," Lila responded, smiling innocently. I checked my phone, and sure enough, there was the text message. I narrowed my eyes, suspicious. My father never lets me help anyone, unless it's for a competition, or unless it's with Kagami. He really approves of her.

"Well, okay then," I sigh. "But how did you know?"

"I reasoned with him. He decided that I was a good influence and wanted us to spend more time together! He said that you should skip fencing practice to study with me today."

Once again, she was right.

"I can't. I have to practice, I have a competition this Sunday!"

"That's okay. You can still practice tomorrow! You have time." Lila grabbed my arm and pulled me towards the library.

"But tomorrow _is_ Sunday," I complained.

"Don't worry, you'll do fine, besides, Kagami's always there to cheer you up," She laughed. "Tomorrow is team fencing after all." she said with a wink, but I knew that if I tried, I could see past her cheerful eyes to the cold jealousy in her heart.

"How did you know that it was team fencing?" I asked, raising an eyebrow. I was starting to feel uncomfortable. Lila was using her lies to find out more and more about everyone. What if she finds out…

I sucked in a breath, stopping myself from fingering my ring. Lila narrowed her eyes at that sudden movement, but continued. "Your dad told me a lot about you, and what cool things you do. I think he supports the friendship that we have, even if you don't."

"Well, it's not much of a friendship, if you ask me," I heard a voice grumble. Lila and I both turned to see the source of the voice, but all we saw was a black shoe as the speaker disappeared. I shrugged and turned back to Lila, but she had an angry look on her face. "Excuse me for a moment, please, Adrien darling," she winked at me, before she got up and walked off.

"You're not _really_ going to just sit here?" I rolled my eyes as a familiar black cat appeared before my eyes. When I didn't respond, Plagg rolled his eyes too. "Well, go after her!"

"But-"

"Just go, Adrien. If you're not, I am!"

I rolled my eyes as I followed Plagg to hide behind a bookshelf as Lila walked over to Marinette.

"What were you doing, stalking Adrien and I like that, Marinette?" Lila asked, rolling her eyes.

"I wasn't stalking you, I was taking a book off the shelf, and I heard your conversation," Marinette responded, backing up as Lila advanced.

"Yeah, you mean you heard our _whole_ conversation? I must say, the length that you go to take Adrien as your own appalls me."

"I could say the same for you, liar!" Marinette retorted. _Take me as her own?_

Lila laughed. "I don't even need to go to those lengths. Adrien is already mine. And even if you argue that he doesn't love me yet, I can _make_ him love me one way or the other. And by the end, one twisted way or another, he will hate you, Ladybug, Cassidy, and anyone else who gets in my way."

"He's too pure to fall for a liar like you!" Marinette accused.

"And he's too pure to fish out my lies," Lila replied, smirking. "He'll fall for me eventually, trust me."  
"No one trusts you!"

"Very funny, Marinette. Don't interrupt our _date,_ girl. Adrien belongs to _me._ "

"Adrien, what are you doing-" Plagg began, but I pushed him aside, and stepped out of hiding just as Lila turned around to head back.

"Oh, Adrien, baby!" Lila smiled up at me with wide, innocent eyes, and I saw Marinette growl at her from the corner of my eye.

"You and I aren't dating, stop trying to make Marinette jealous," I respond, pushing her aside. I have never been so angry with Lila before. Now I know that she is bullying my friends, and planning to use me. She's even more possessive than Chloe.

"Adrien, darling, hear me out," Lila began.

"I already heard enough," I responded, walking over to Marinette. She took a step back at my angry face. Immediately, I softened my features. "Don't worry, Marinette. I heard everything."

"So… you've figured it out, haven't you," Marinette whispered.

I sighed. "Yes. But that doesn't make me hate you, Marinette." I smiled as her face lit up.

"Marinette, you're one of my greatest friends. I would never hate you."

That made her smile, and her smile made me smile.

"Would you like to come see my competition this Sunday?" I suggested.

"Of course!" Lila immediately responded. "Thank you so much, Adrien."

I blushed. "Uh, I was talking to Marinette."

Lila's happy face turned to anger, and Marinette's angry face turned to happy. "Thank you so much, Adrien, I wouldn't miss it! You're so good at kissing. I mean, uh, you're so good at fencing."

I raised my eyebrows. _Let's just pretend I never heard that._

"Thanks. You wanna do homework with Lila and I?"

Lila growled at Marinette, and I turned on her with furrowed eyebrows. "Lila, Marinette is one of my best friends. I don't see what's wrong in inviting her to do homework with us."

"Of course!" Lila immediately changed, with her wide innocent eyes again. "I'd love it if she could do homework with us."

I nodded. At least Lila was behaving herself.

"After this, Marinette," I told her, leaning in close to her ear. "You wanna meet up at Andre's? We can make up for that night."

"I wouldn't miss it for the world," I heard her giggle.

"TIKKI, IT'S THE BEST DAY IN MY LIFE!" I screamed, running around my room, laughing and crying at the same time.

Tikki laughed as well. "See? I knew that Lila wouldn't be able to get to him."

"I'm going to watch Adrien's fencing competition!" I giggled, and my mom opened my trapdoor, smiling at me. "Marinette, you're too excited. The customers can hear you."

"Sorry mom," I told her sheepishly.

I heard a ringing of my phone, and I smiled when I saw that it was Cassidy's facetime message.

"Hi Mari! I'm here with Alya. You wanna come get ice cream with us in the park right now?"

I blushed. "I was actually going there with Adrien anyways."

Cassidy and Alya's jaws both dropped. Then their surprised look turned to ecstacy. "You actually asked him out?!" "He actually accepted?" "YASSS GIRL!" "YASSS QUEEN!"

I laughed. "I know, I'm so excited."

"And guess what girl? Cassidy brought the whole New York gang! We get to meet New York superheroes!" Alya squealed. Cassidy and I shared a wink.

"I can't wait!" I played along. "But right now, I have to finish my homework. Catch you guys later!"

I hung up, smiling up at Tikki.

"I love life," I squeal, laying down on my bed.

"Me too," Tikki agreed, and we shared a laugh.

 **Thanks for reading, y'all! Be sure to leave a comment, and favorite this story!**


	16. Chapter 16

**Chapter 16:**

"Oh. You again."

"Hello, Miss Natalie," Lila smiled sweetly as she walked in the door. She smiled at Adrien's gawking face.

"Lila, what are you doing here?"

"Your father wanted to say something to me," Lila responded, winking at him. "He also decided that I should go to your photoshoot when I'm done talking to him, since I'm such a big fan of his fashion designs. See you there!"

"But… my father said that I could only invite one friend," Adrien argued.

"Aren't I just one person?" Lila laughed flirtatiously.

"I already decided that I was going to invite Marinette," He frowned at Lila.

"Oh, Marinette! I saw her on the way here. She told me to tell you that her father is busy with something, and that he needs her there with him. I think they were having another famous model come over to their bakery or something for a photoshoot as well. They wanted her to be there, because Marinette and the model are good friends."

Lila almost laughed at the hurt expression on Adrien's face. She had already planted the seed of distrust and betrayal. Marinette won't be able to step in her plans anymore.

"Miss Rossi, this way," Natalie instructed, as Adrien walked back up to his room, eyebrows creased together in confusion.

"Good to see you again, Mr. Agreste," Lila immediately said.

"And good to see you, Lila," Gabriel said, smiling. "I have a very important mission for you today. We know that Fate has sent the New York superheroes to Paris for a reason, and that reason was to defeat me. But you and I both know that that is for the worse of the people. Ladybug and Cat Noir cannot be trusted. However, we will turn the New York superheroes against Parisians."

Gabriel took a breath. "Nooroo, dark wings rise!"

As Hawkmoth, he cupped a butterfly in his hand, before walking over to Lila, and placing the akuma on her earring.

"Lean-haum Shee, I give you the power to make anyone you want to fall in love with you. You will use this power to make Cassidy, Ladybug, Marinette, Chloe, and Kagami jealous of you, which will make way for negative emotion. And of course, your ultimate mission: is to take the miraculouses of the Ladybug and Black Cat."

"Yes Hawkmoth!" Lila said excitedly, smirking as purple engulfed her entire body. When the purple faded, she still looked like herself, but she knew that she was different. No one would be able to resist her, not even Adrien.

"Carry out your mission, Lean-haum Shee!" Hawkmoth commanded, and Lila nodded, before leaping out of the window.

I smiled almost sadly as Marinette approached Adrien shyly. I knew that Ladybug and Cat Noir were meant to be, but I couldn't help but dream. It was a shame.

I was in love with a guy that I would never see again.

"Cass, ya good?"

I smiled up at Avery. "Yeah, of course. Thanks for your concern, Ave."

"I see how you look at Adrien, you know," Monee walked up to me, wiggling his eyebrows. I laughed, hiding my blush. Even though I easily fell for Adrien, Monee and I still have a closer relationship.

"No. Marinette and Adrien are meant to be. I can't interfere between their lives too much. Just a tad bit here, and a tad bit there," I smiled, just as Lupa walked in.

"I am, LUPAAAA!" she announced very overdramatically, putting on a pair of shades. She stopped as she saw Marinette and Adrien talking behind Monee, Avery and I. Her jaw dropped. "Awww, they're so cute together!"

"I know right?" All three of us replied at the same time.

The couple walked up to Andre, and shared an ice cream. It was meant to be like this, wasn't it?

"Hang on guys, I'm going to stalk them! I mean, uh, _talk_ to them," Lupa said quickly, doing a quick salute to me before bounding over behind them, and crouching behind the bench. Marinette and Adrien both noticed immediately, and stared at her in confusion and bewilderment.

"Hehe… I thought I lost… a shoe," Lupa immediately said. "You guys carry on."

"How about Ave and I try this?" I smirked, as Avery and I flew into the sky. I took out my phone, and zoomed in on the couple. I saw Adrien laugh his perfect laugh, and Marinette blush in turn. I directed the camera towards Lupa, who was still fangirling over them like crazy.

I guess Ladybug and Cat really didn't need my help at all.

"Marinette, I… I need to tell you something," Adrien began, running a hand through his hair nervously.

"Of course, anything," I responded, still blushing.

"... Weren't you in love with Cat Noir?"

I blushed even harder. I could almost see Tikki staring at me with an; _I told you so._

"Well, yeah. I kind of was. But… he had a heart for Ladybug, and I like you a lot more. I mean, uh, well, I don't really anymore. I mean like, I don't like Chat anymore, I still like you. I mean, uh… this is a nightmare."

Adrien looked downwards in shame. "Well… I have something to confess to you."

"Yeah?" I asked, excited but nervous at the same time.

"I… I like you, Marinette, I really do, but please understand. This sounds really silly, but I think you'll understand too, because you've fallen in love with a superhero before as well."

"You're in love with Cassidy?" I gasped, standing up. "Why didn't you tell me before?"

"Slow down, girl, I'm not in love with Cassidy!" Adrien said frantically. "I'm in love with Ladybug!"

The world seemed to stop. So, all along, Adrien was in love with me, and I was in love with him, and I didn't even know?!

"I'm really sorry, Marinette, but please understand, I like you a lot, too," Adrien told me quietly.

"Of course, I understand," I responded immediately, and he looked up at me, smiling. "You really do?"

"Of course!"

"Thank you so much, Marinette. At least I know that I can count on you." Without warning, Adrien pulled me into a hug.

My mind flashed back to the dance we had at Chloe's party, the hug that we had, the romantic dance, everything. I remembered the way my heart raced, the way I feel now.

When we pulled away, we were both blushing fiercely.

We heard the ringing of a phone, and Adrien sighed, standing up. "Thanks so much for meeting with me, Marinette. But my father wants me to go do a photoshoot. Catch you at school." He winked at me, and I winked back.

I turn to where Cassidy was talking to Avery, and gasp when I see a familiar girl with brown hair and green eyes walking up to them.

"Hey, guys!" I heard her say, and the rest of her words were blocked by the loud city noises. I narrowed my eyes as I stalked closer.

"Hi Lila, this is Avery, Monee, and Felicia," Cassidy introduced. "And their superhero names are EagleEye, Slither, and Lupa. Respectively."

"Cool! It's so awesome to meet real superheroes and superheroines from another country! I've actually lived in New York for a year, but that was when I was really young. My English is a bit rusty, but my friend Adrien often helps me improve my skills."

"That's… really nice of him," Cassidy responded. "And it's so cool that you lived in New York. I've actually never been to Paris my entire life."

"No worries, I can help your French," Lila squealed excitedly.

Cassidy growled. "My cousin is French. Of course I can speak fluent French."

Lila rolled her eyes, and immediately lost interest in Cassidy, and surveyed Monee. "Whoa, nice to meet you, Slither," she said, looking up and down Slither. "Cool outfit!"

Cassidy narrows her eyes. "Yeah, maybe Monee, Avery, Felicia and I have to go."

"C'mon, Cass, why can't we stay longer with her? She seems nice," Monee argued. Cassidy's eyes flared with anger.

"Monee!" She chided.

"Okay, okay," he sighed, walking away from Lila's grip. I didn't miss the detail that the two were holding hands.

"Wait!" Lila ran up to Monee, whispered something in his ear, and walked away, leaving Monee smiling. She then turned back to wink at him, before running off.

When she was out of sight, the entire superhero gang started laughing. "We know you're there, Marinette," Felicia chuckled. "Hiding under a bench isn't a good idea."

I blushed furiously, before stepping out. "Sorry."

"Don't be," Cassidy replied, smiling. Then she turned to Monee. "What was that all about?!"

"N-nothing," Monee responded.

"What did she tell you?"

"She said… she wanted to show me this really cool book at the library."

Cassidy leapt into the air, and grabbed Monee by the chin. "Tell me the truth, Monee!"

"Okay! Okay! She said to meet here at 6:00 PM tomorrow."

Cassidy floated back down. "She's doing this to make me jealous."

"The world doesn't revolve around you, Cassidy!" Monee argued.

Cassidy glared at him. "Oh, so now you're falling for a girl you just met?"

"N-no! I'm just saying, maybe she's not that bad."

"She goes to my school, Monee! I know her!" Cassidy argued.

"Well, I don't, and that's why I want to meet her! Why are you so hostile towards her!"

"Because Lila is a liar," I popped out of the bench, glaring down Monee. I was definitely on Cassidy's side for this. "Cassidy just wants to protect you from her lies!"

"She seems nice," Monee said.

"Well, she's not!" Cassidy and I yell at the same time.

"Okay, okay, Cass, calm down," Avery interfered, and immediately, Cassidy's expression softened.

"You're right, Ave. C'mon, Felicia, Monee, let's go. Good day, Marinette."

"See you tomorrow!" I say, running off.

"Monee!" I glared at him when Marinette was out of earshot. "You have to trust me about Lila."

"Here we go again," I heard Avery mumble.

"Cass, we came here to make friends, not enemies," Monee argued. "Even if she is horrible, maybe I could change her mind."

"She's just using you to get to me, Marinette, and Adrien," I responded.

Monee glared at me at the mention of Adrien. "Don't get all offensive on me, Cass. I know how you think about Adrien. I want to meet this girl, and I want to get to know her better. I'm sorry Cass, but I'm going to meet her at 6:00 tomorrow."

"Adrien-"

"I don't want to hear it, my word is final."

"Excuse me? Who is the head of this gang?" Avery stepped in. "Oh, I remember. _Cassidy._ Monee, you'd better give her some proper respect."

"Excuse me, Hawk dude, but _I_ happen to be her boyfriend-"

I jumped in surprise. "What?"

"I mean, I happen to be her boy friend, as in separate words, and as a friend, I can argue to try to prove my point. Just because she's the head doesn't mean she's right about everything."

"But she _can_ try to protect you from people she knows are dangerous."

"Thank you Ave," I say to him, smirking at Monee.

"I know how to solve this," Felicia said, twirling over to us with a wide smile on her face. "How about the whole gang goes down to meet Lila?"

"She said to meet me alone," Monee said irritably.

"Oh I get it, you've got a soft spot for the liar, huh?" Felicia wiggled her eyebrows.

"Lici!" I scolded, using her nickname.

"C'mon, Cass. Give her a break." Monee rolled his eyes.

I narrowed my eyes. Then a lightbulb came to my head. I smirked. "Okay, Monee. Go and meet her at the park. You're right, she does deserve another chance."

Monee looked at me suspiciously. "Uh… yeah?"

"Mhm. Well, we'd better get ready for bed. I have to go back to Chloe's. Bye! Oh, Ave, Lici, c'mere for a min."

"Don't try to make me jealous," Monee growled.

"Oh please," Felicia responded. "She needs to tell us something."

"What about me?"

"You go ahead and flirt with Lila," Avery responded, keeping a straight face somehow. Monee sighed and walked away.

"So basically, Monee's going to hang out with Lila, and _we_ are going to follow him! And talk- I mean, _stalk_ him!" I winked at Felicia, and she giggled.

"You really have it in for him, eh?" Avery teased.

"No. I don't want him to make friends with the wrong people," I argued, blushing. "Perhaps I'm being overprotective, but she can ruin reputations easily. She can turn Monee on me, against _us_. And I can't let that happen."

Felicia and Avery both nodded.

"We got this, right? Lici can hide under the bridge, and use her hearing to listen to what they say. Ave, you and I take the skies."

"You really sure he won't spot us?" Avery argued.

I winked at him. "Don't forget, I'm pretty good at camouflage. Besides, you can warn me when he's about to look up."

I glanced at the two of them, and they glanced at me too. I smiled. "Miracles Unite!" We all shouted, our silly logo. We laughed as Monee came back in the room, his hair wet.

"Where were you?" Felicia asked.

"Swimming," he responded. "I forgot my goggles." He took them from his bed, before going downstairs again.

"By the way, is something bothering him? He seems like he's really annoyed today. Usually, he always listens to me when I warn him about something… or in this case, someone."

"Yeah, he's been a bit down all day," Avery admitted. "I took him to get some coffee after school-"

"Since when did you like coffee, Avery?" Felicia demanded.

"Uh… since we came to France," Avery admitted, blushing. "French coffee is so good."

"Well, I suppose I can't argue with that," Felicia and I say at the same time, then laughing afterwards.

"So yeah, we got some coffee, he was barely talking to me. He was just looking down. Maybe something happened at his school, or something."

"Should we ask him?" I asked anxiously.

"He's fine," Felicia insisted. "Happens all the time."

"Hey, when did you know Monee better than I do?" I asked, smirking, and crossing my arms.

She wiggled her eyebrows at me. "For one, he's in my swim team in New York. For two, he's my brother's friend. And trust me, he gets these mood swings all the time. He gets better the day after, so I'm sure he'll be fine."

"Okay," Avery and I decided, defeated.

"Monee!"

I smirked as I heard Lila's voice running down towards Monee, and Avery and I leapt into the air. I zoomed in on them with my camera.

"Hi Lila," Monee sat down.

"It's so nice to finally meet you! You know…" I growled as the rest of her sentence was inaudible.

I rolled my eyes as Lila laughed flirtatiously. She's so over the top.

I gasped as Monee started laughing too. He was enjoying this? I immediately started to imagine all kinds of lies that Lila could be feeding him now just to make me jealous.

I sighed. Monee may be right. Maybe Lila isn't doing this just to get to Marinette, Adrien and I. But I can't help but have a suspicion. Maybe I was being too selfish though…

"That little traitor," Avery growled.

"Who are you talking about, Lila, or Monee?" I smirked.

"How about both?"

"That works," I say, my expression becoming serious again.

I gasped again as Monee and Lila stood up, and began walking to a few bike rentals by the side of the park. Where are they going?

Lila looked down at her phone, and Monee went to look too, and their heads bumped, making both of them blush furiously. I growled under my breath.

Lila pointed at something in the distance, before she hopped on a bike and rode off, Monee hot on her heels.

"Let's go," I snapped, and without further hesitation we swooped down into action. I saw Lupa out of the corner of my eye, leaping over the building tops and following the two. I winked at Lupa, and even though I couldn't see her reaction, I knew that her eyesight picked up my small action.

I narrowed my eyes in disbelief as Monee and Lila parked their bikes on the sides, and they walked together, hand in hand, as they ambled towards Andre's ice cream cart. I flew next to Lupa, and whispered; "Report."

"Andre is giving them ice cream, Monee seems desperately in love," Lupa giggled, before Avery slapped her gently. She cupped her ear. "Lila says… 'You know, Cassidy and I kind of got off to the wrong start. Maybe having her friend might restable our friendship.'"

Avery and I both scoffed.

"'Yeah, Cassidy's a great person, and a very good friend,' Monee replied."

"Spying isn't polite, you know," I gasped as I heard a voice behind us say. We turned around, to see Ladybug and Cat Noir smirking at us.

"We've noticed strange behavior in Lila recently, and we want to check it out too."

"And here you are, saying that spying isn't polite," I rolled my eyes, and Ladybug laughed, sitting down next to Cat Noir.

"'There's something I've wanted to tell you. I couldn't tell this to Cassidy, because I knew that she wouldn't believe me. But when I saw you, I knew I could trust you with my biggest secret ever,'" Lupa reported.

I rolled my eyes.

"As a famous and rather handsome superhero," Lila smirked, and Monee blushed. "I think you won't tell anyone that I have a miraculous that no one knows about except for the guardian of the miraculouses, not even Ladybug and Chat Noir!"

"Really?" Monee says.

"Yes. I have… the fairy miraculous."

"What?"

"I told you, it's top secret. Legend says that it has a power even more powerful than Ladybug's! I have the power to catch someone's attention, kind of freezing them in the moment, like freezing them in time. I then attack in the time I have."

"That's actually really powerful," Monee agreed. "Could you show me?"

Lila laughed flirtatiously, using her girlish charm. "You're so naive. Remember, this is Paris. Not New York. I can't show my identity. But I do have a surprise for you…" She giggled. "Close your eyes."

Monee did as told. Lila leaned in and pressed her lips against his.

I probably wasn't the only one who screamed, because I saw Avery suck in a breath, Lupa raise her eyebrows, and Ladybug and Chat Noir yelped in surprise.

"That's it!" I declared. "He doesn't get to cheat on me anymore-"

"Uh, Cass, technically he's not cheating on you, you guys weren't really a thing," Felicia pointed out. "It would just make Lila happy that she's gotten to you through Monee. Give it a chill, then confront Monee later."

I sighed, calming down. "You're right. I shouldn't overreact like that."

Ladybug and Chat Noir were both unconvinced. "Is Monee the type of person to fall for a girl easily?"

I scoffed. "He hasn't looked at anyone romantically so far."

"Then what about Lila makes him like her so much?" Chat Noir pointed out. "Everyone warned him about her lies, yet he was enthusiastic to see her. She only said a few words to him, and already, they're making out. Isn't that a bit… suspicious?"

"What's your point?" Avery asked in a low voice.

"My point is that Lila may not be normal. She's akumatized," Ladybug claimed.

"What? Then, what's her power?" Felicia replied, bewildered.

"Not really sure yet, but there's _definitely_ something going on."

My eyes met Chat's, and we gave each other a nod.

"Well, m'ladybug, it's late, and I think I'd better get some rest. We don't know for sure whether she's akumatized or not, and we have no idea where the akumatized object is."

"But we can't-"

"Here, let's observe her tomorrow. If we see any kind of weird behavior in her, we'll immediately attack."

Ladybug furrowed her eyebrows, but reluctantly agreed.

I sighed. "He's right. Let's let Monee have this night out. We'll confront him at the hotel, and Avery, check his behavior tomorrow. You spend more time with him than me."

"Yez ma'am," Avery said in a bored tone.

"Let's go home," Felicia smiled sadly. She glared at Monee one more time before bounding across the building tops. I winked at Chat Noir, and we headed off in the same direction, as Adrien de-transformed in the alleyway.

"You really think there's something wrong with Lila?" I asked nervously.

"Unless there's actually something wrong with Monee, then yes," Adrien sighed. "If I tried, maybe I could talk her out of doing this, and maybe even find out where the akumatized object is."

"She seems normal though, not like any supervillain. We haven't even seen the glowing Hawkmoth halo thing on her face yet. Who knows, maybe she just manipulated-"

"Like you said, it's not like Monee to fall for her that easily. I may just be paranoid, but believe me, Lila doesn't need a costume to be a supervillain."

I shuddered at his tone and how sinister he sounded, but I knew that he was right.

"Are you going to confront her now?"

"No, I will at school tomorrow. She's already pretty mad at me because I asked out Marinette, so I'm not even sure if she'll still talk to me…"

"She'll feed you tons and tons and tons of lies," I assured him.

He sighed. "Unlike some others, this one will never change."

 **Hey Yall! So good to be on Fanfiction again! Unfortunately with school starting, I've been really busy and haven't been able to upload. But here you go, a super long chapter! Hope yall enjoyed. Who can't wait for Chat Blanc? Me!**


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